


Willow-Violet: Year One

by TheFineArtOfBoredom



Series: Willow-Violet Potter [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Video Game)
Genre: Adoption, Angst, F/M, Family, Gen, M/M, Sexual Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:08:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 17
Words: 25,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27693230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFineArtOfBoredom/pseuds/TheFineArtOfBoredom
Summary: For eleven years, Willow-Violet Potter has been raised by the highly esteemed Malfoy family. She has been educated, cared for and loved by Lucius and Narcissa, and has grown close to their son Draco, but, upon her arrival at Hogwarts, everything changes and, come December, she will be living with the godfather she never really knew existed.During her journey throughout her first year at Hogwarts, she meets her long lost brother, a couple of mischief-making redheaded twins, and one very sub-par Defence Against the Dark Arts professor whose motives are not so very positive.Willow-Violet: Year One gives readers an entry into the perspective of a new, in-depth character and takes the first step in answering the question, "If there was one more key character in Harry Potter, how would things change?”
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Willow-Violet Potter [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2025233
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is the first part of my eight-part series, focusing mainly on my Original Character, Willow-Violet Potter. I've dedicated 3+ years of work into this character, and I'm hoping you guys enjoy her story as much as me. Thanks for reading!!  
> Oh, and the warnings/negative tags refer only to Chapters Eight and Twelve.  
> Originally posted on my Tumblr @simplynotanegg_works Check it out!! Give it some love!!

“Where are you, Willow?”

The young girl suppressed a giggle, hands clasped tightly to her mouth, from under the dining table as her brother walked by, whispering to himself.

“Come on, Willow. Please come out; we’ve been playing for hours,” her brother cried in desperation as he paced up and down the expansive dining room.

“But that’s what makes it fun!” Willow groaned, rolling her eyes before carefully crawling out from under what she thought would be her final hiding spot. Soon, she stood, eye-level with her brother, arms crossed and a large pout on her face.

“Surely, you still can’t be having fun.”

Willow hummed indignantly and turned her back on her brother. Silence surrounded the room as her brother tried to think of a compromise that wouldn’t absolutely bore him to death.

“Fine,” he sighed. “One more game, but we’re only playing for five minutes.”

A smile found its way on Willow’s face as she turned around to hug her brother before sprinting out of the dining room. She had to be quick, and she had to make sure her hiding spot would be sufficient enough for her to able to hide longer than five minutes; she wanted the game to continue after all.

She decided to head upstairs, to the second-floor, and she ran through countless hallways, observing all the little nooks and crannies she could find, although soon determined that none would be of use to her, so she climbed another floor. She found herself climbing two more floors after that, before stopping at the stairs that lead up to the attic. She could feel a bit of adrenaline pump through her veins as she, quite cautiously, climbed the stairs up. She was not allowed in the attic, after all, and if Lucius or Narcissa were to find out about her soon-to-be mis-adventure, she would surely get into a lot of trouble. But she couldn’t help going up there on this occasion; she needed a good place to hide, and Draco would have no chance of finding her here.

Quietly, Willow closed the door behind her as she entered the attic, leaving her in darkness. There were no light switches; they were witches and wizards; they did not need electricity like the Muggles did. Flames burst out of Willow’s hand as she began to walk around the attic, searching for the best possible place to hide. She was about to hide behind a dusty old couch in the corner when something caught her eye.

A box. A box with her name on it. Quickly, Willow searched for an old jar she could put the flames into, soon finding one in an old dresser, before returning to the box with her name on it. She sat down cross-legged beside it, the jar beside her. She trembled, ever-so-slightly, when she lifted the flaps open; she wasn’t meant to see whatever was in there, and she knew that, but it had _her_ name on it.

The first thing she pulled from it was a note, wrapped in small blue blanket, addressed from one of the Malfoys’ old friends, Severus Snape. It wasn’t a large note, only a few brief sentences, but after reading the contents, Willow felt a whole new array of emotions all at once.

She had always known that the Malfoys were not her true family; for as long as she could remember she stuck out like a sore thumb, especially in family portraits, her hair a fiery red compared to the Malfoys’ blond, and of course the sheer amount of freckles dotted all over her, compared to the pale, fair skin of the others. But nothing could have prepared her for discovering, through a few written words, that she had a _real_ brother that she had never been told about.

Willow had no idea just how long she spent in the attic, rummaging through the box, but by the end she discovered that, not only did she have a living, breathing brother, but two godfathers, one of which was in prison, for some reason unknown to her. She was a little sad, when she finally made her way back down to the first-floor and into the dining room for dinner, and it seemed to be fairly noticeable by the others.

“You’ve barely touched your dinner, Willow.”

Willow looked up briefly to see Lucius looking at her, an ever-so-slight look of concern on his usually stern face.

“Is something wrong with it, dear? I can request that a new plate be brought out for you.”

Narcissa looked at Willow with a similar amount of concern as Lucius. All Willow wanted to do was hide again. She knew she was going to have to tell them what she found; she didn’t enjoy lying, not that she was any good at it in the first place; and she knew she was more than likely going to be punished for going somewhere she shouldn’t have even thought of being in in the first place.

“Why,” Willow began quietly, looking at the plate in front of her nervously, “why did you never tell me I had another family?”

Willow did not need to look up to see that Lucius was angry with her. He could hear him well enough, as he ordered her to take her plate and go to her room. She could feel Draco’s eyes on her as she left the dining room, and only briefly did she turn to see that he had a look of great sympathy on his face.

For the two hours that Willow sat alone in her bedroom, she did not eat; she didn’t feel like it. She regretted what she had said, mostly because it had gotten her into trouble, and she didn’t particularly enjoy getting punished for things she did. It did get quite boring, sitting alone in a room after a while, especially when, at this moment, she and Draco could have been playing more games, except, maybe not hide-and-seek this time.

She was about to fall asleep when Lucius came into the room. She sat up in her bed as he sat on the edge of it, not wanting to appear too tired. He wasn’t angry anymore; Willow could see that plain as day, but his expression was something Willow had never seen before.

“I’m sorry for going up to the attic,” Willow apologised, hoping that would help. “I didn’t mean too, I just wanted a good place to hide from Draco, so the game would be longer, that’s all.”

But his expression did not falter. At long last, after moments of confused silence, he said, “Willow, I need to tell you about what happened. To your family.”

***

_The household was silent, with the exception of the tiny snores emitting from the infant boy, who was curled up in his father’s arms, and the whistle of the kettle as it boiled the water inside._

_Lily Potter stood in the kitchen waiting patiently for the water to finish warming, her almost five-month-old daughter held close to her, when a knock on the front door sounded throughout the house. She turned to see her husband, James, carefully rest their son on the sofa as he stood with a smile, ready to answer the door. Their best friends, Sirius and Remus, had been planning to visit that night, after days of not seeing either of them. There was something about the knock on the door though, that made Lily’s heart begin beating faster with worry. She couldn’t pinpoint what exactly, but as soon as James stood from the sofa, she abandoned the whistling kettle and lifted her son into her onto arms, now holding both children securely._

_“Don’t answer the door,” she said in almost a whisper. James stopped, midway down the hallway, and turned back around to see his wife. He held her close to him and kissed her delicately on the lips; she had had increasing anxiety over the last months, especially after their daughter was born. She feared that any day could be their last, especially with the target on their backs._

_“Everything’s going to be fine,” James comforted in merely a whisper, but this did not calm Lily; if anything she only began to fear more, which was only increased by the second knock that sounded throughout the house. “Yeah, alright, I’m coming!”_

_The hideout he had been staying in was deserted. The bed was made neatly, the pictures hung on the wall untouched, and there was not one mess in sight. There was an almost eerie silence that encased Sirius and Remus when they entered the place, and only moments later did the two begin to panic, realising something they would have never expected._

_“He – he was the spy,” Sirius whispered, looking nervously at his husband’s own fear-stricken face. “Remus –“_

_“We’ve got to go,” Remus said, looking towards the ground. “We’ve got to go,” he repeated, knowing already that it was probably too late to save them; too late to save his best friends and their children._

_Sirius physically screamed when they reached the Potter’s household before sprinting to get inside, the window where the nursery was located illuminating with bright green before the whole top-half of the house practically exploded in front of their eyes. In that moment, Remus collapsed, his chest experiencing pain that could only be described as something similar as having his heart ripped out. He trembled greatly, struggling to breath as each sob left his body, as each cry of despair echoed through the night. Only briefly did he stop, when he heard the sounds of a baby crying._


	2. Chapter 2

_Remus paced up and down his living room, a hand anxiously running through his hair. It had been almost an hour since he and his husband had found their best friends dead at the hands of the worst wizard to have ever walked the earth. Harry, his godson, slept silently on the sofa, cuddling close to a pillow in replacement for his sister, as she was being held tight in Remus’ arms. He had tried to put her to sleep beside her brother, although as soon as she was out of her godfather’s arms she began to cry, something she had a tendency to do when Remus left the Potter household, although her cries, this time, had an air of anxiety as if she feared being left alone forever._

_Sirius had come into the house so quickly that Remus would have missed it if it hadn’t been for the pained sounds that emitted from his body. Worried, he made his way upstairs to their bedroom to comfort him, although was disrupted by a knock on the door. He flinched, fearing the worst; after all, it was the front door where James Potter met his downfall._

_“Remus!”_

_The voice of Albus Dumbledore sounded through the closed door. Remus sighed contentedly, and after promising Sirius he would be back soon, he traipsed down the stairs and opened the front door to Albus and the current Minister for Magic, Millicent Bagnold._

_“It was an Unbreakable Vow that killed him, Dumbledore. Be reasonable,” Remus sighed angrily, minutes later. He, Dumbledore and the Minister were now seated around the coffee table in the living room, Willow now awake yet still cuddled close to Remus, and a cup of hot tea on the table. “Severus said so himself, in our last meeting. He said he made a vow with Voldemort –“_

_“But his vow did not pertain to Lily –“_

_“He said he made Voldemort promise not to kill her!”_

_The room fell silent at the unexpectedness of Remus’ outburst. Harry, having awoken from the sudden noise, began to sniffle. With a small sigh, unhappy that he had woken the sleeping boy, Remus leaned over and stood Harry up, leading him the few steps towards him, before sitting Harry down once more, the boy then resting his head against his godfather’s leg._

_“Harry will live with his aunt and uncle,” Dumbledore concluded calmly._

_“He’s_ our _son,” Remus spoke angrily through gritted teeth, trying his best to keep his voice low. “James and Lily left the children to us. Petunia was completely left out of their will. And what about Willow? Are you going to take her –“_

_A knock on the door stopped Remus in his tracks. Dumbledore stood to answer, although the door was opened by those outside before he had the chance. Remus almost cowered in his seat as the Ministry Officials walked in. Why were they here? Had they suspected him or Sirius for their best friends’ murders? Surely, they wouldn’t have._

_“Is this the home of Mr Black?” one of them asked, a tall man with quite an imposing moustache._

_“No,” Remus lied._

_“Yes,” a voice admitted from the top of the stairs._

_“Sirius –“_

_“They believe I killed Peter and knowing the Ministry there was no way of convincing them otherwise. I’m sorry, Remus.”_

_Remus carefully stood, making sure not to disrupt Harry too much before carefully laying Willow beside her brother, almost instantaneously causing her to cry, during which Sirius made his way downstairs. Remus hadn’t even noticed he was crying until Sirius carefully wiped away his tears._

_“Don’t cry,” he said quietly, wrapping his arms around Remus’ waist and resting his head on his shoulder. Remus couldn’t help but bury his head in Sirius’ shoulder as he held Sirius close. He didn’t want to let go. He didn’t want to say goodbye. He didn’t want to be alone._

_Soon, he found himself having what he thought would be his final kiss from Sirius, and only seconds later was Sirius gone. All else that happened that night occurred in mostly a blur. Harry was taken by Dumbledore to live with his aunt and uncle, and Willow, wailing the entire time, was taken from Remus. She was to be given to Severus, as he was Lily’s friend, once upon a time, and in any normal situation this would have made Remus feel sick to the stomach, but the melancholy he was experiencing overrode any other emotion. The single shining light of hope was that he had permission to adopt Willow once she reached the age of eleven, but until that time, he would be alone. That night, Remus could not bring himself to leave the living room. Instead, he fell into an uneasy sleep, curled up in a ball on the wooden floor, the noticeable silence causing an unknown fear to rush through his veins. He was alone._

***

The conversation between Lucius and Willow lasted almost an hour, and by the end of it, Willow was in tears herself. She could feel her heart aching for her godfather; how he managed to live through such an ordeal, she did not know. Willow went to sleep that night, her mind swirling. Part of her wished she hadn’t gone up to the attic in the afternoon; perhaps she wouldn’t be as confused as she was now. And after all that, she still had no answers about her brother, even after asking Lucius multiple times what he might be like, or when she would see him. She could only assume that their first meeting would be at her new school the following month.


	3. Chapter 3

Willow had been to Diagon Alley more times than she could count. It was almost like a second home to her. She had been there so many times, in fact, that if she had to, she could navigate around the place in complete darkness. Never once had she seen Diagon Alley so busy though, even when the Malfoys visited during the last weeks before the new school year when visitations were at their peak.

Deciding that splitting the family in two would make the trip quicker, Narcissa left in a hurry with Draco up the Main Street, whilst Willow followed Lucius down a darker road, aptly named Knockturn Alley. This had to be perhaps the only place that Willow could not remember how to navigate. She had only been here once before, at the age of four, when Lucius needed to buy a new bedside table after their house elf, Dobby, knocked the old one against his head one too many times.

“Wait here for me. I shouldn’t be more than a few minutes,” Lucius ordered once the two were outside an old shop, a rusty sign above the door saying _Borgin and Burke’s_.

“Why can’t I come in?” Willow asked with a huff, arms crossing, although Lucius did not answer, instead entering the shop, a small bell ringing when he did so. Not even a minute passed before Willow found herself sitting on the ground, sighing with boredom, not caring if she dirtied her robes. Deciding it might provide some sort of entertainment, Willow decided to make observations of the other witches and wizards passing by her. Most were old hags, in which case Willow was glad she had sat down on the dusty ground below, as they had a taste for children’s flesh; the others were mostly wizards with peculiar-looking marks on their arms.

“Are you lost?” a gruff voice spoke suddenly, moments later. Willow had been too busy thinking about the strange marks to have noticed the large, towering man that stood in front of her.

“No,” Willow replied, getting onto her feet. “My,” she hesitated, trying to think of an appropriate word for Lucius, “Father is in there.” She pointed to the shop window. “He told me to wait out here.” The stranger looked through the window and made a slight grunt of surprise before looking back at Willow. “Who are you?” Willow then asked quite suddenly.

“Rubeus Hagrid, Gamekeeper at Hogwarts,” the man replied, holding out a large hand for Willow to shake.

“My name’s Willow,” she said, shaking the man’s hand as best as she could, with a polite smile. “I’ll be starting Hogwarts soon.” Willow turned her head suddenly, hearing Lucius’ voice; he was almost at the door. “You should probably go,” Willow said. “He doesn’t like me talking to strangers.”

“Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Willow,” the man said with a nod, starting to walk away. “An’ I’ll see you at Hogwarts.”

***

Flourish and Blotts was busier than Willow had ever seen before, most likely due to the book signing going on by the author Gilderoy Lockhart, an absolutely talentless wizard in Willow’s opinion. She had only ever read one of his books, and almost nothing in it pertained to the laws of magic, such as using a Homorphus Charm to turn a werewolf back into a human permanently, even though such a charm was only designed for a temporary change. She and Draco were upstairs, occupying themselves with their search for their schoolbooks, before being distracted by a sudden disturbance down below.

She wasn’t surprised, when she and Draco reached the bottom of the stairs, that it was a Weasley who had started the fight with Lucius. Neither Lucius nor Mr Weasley were willing to break up their fight though, even after the shop assistant begged them to separate. It was only when the large man Willow met in Knockturn Alley came over that the two stopped after he had dragged them off one another.

The air was tense for a moment, and Willow ended up huddling closer to Draco, feeling a little awkward. He must have felt the same too, as his eyes kept darting around the place. Minutes later though were Willow and Draco beckoned out of the shop by Lucius, after he had given a book back to who looked to be the youngest Weasley, a girl around Willow’s age. Upon leaving the shop, Narcissa scolded Lucius, going on about setting a good example for the children. Even after returning home, Willow and Draco could still hear her shouting at him, as they packed together for their upcoming year at Hogwarts.

“I think what Lucius did was fine,” Willow said, folding away her newly bought robes. “You’ve heard him talk about Mr Weasley after all. They don’t seem to be good people, do they?”

“They aren’t as bad as he makes us believe they are,” Draco said quietly as if he was ashamed of saying such a thing. The two did not speak another word after that, the silence causing Willow to think. Surely Draco couldn’t be telling the truth? Lucius had always been right in what he said, hadn’t he?

***

The violent tapping on the window is what finally woke him, mostly out of fear that any harsher and it would completely shatter. Remus sighed as he stood, wrapping his blanket around him tight so as to keep feeling the warmth of his bed; he did _not_ like waking early.

“All that noise for a bloody letter,” he grumbled, eyes still half-closed as he opened the window, allowing the large owl to fly into his bedroom. Slowly, Remus untied the letter from the bird’s leg before the creature, quite impatiently, flew off. Rubbing his eyes as he sat back down on the bed, in an attempt to keep himself awake, he unrolled the parchment and began to read:

**Remus,**

**I am glad to inform you that from this Friday onward I shall be paying you 500 Galleons a week, 650 when Willow is living with you. I hope this letter finds its way to you soon; I heard you wanted to see the Ministry this week about arrangements with Willow, and I figure this would be useful to show them.**

**Signed,**

**Professor M. McGonagall**

For the first time in what had to be forever, Remus smiled and smiled brightly. All of a sudden, he was fully awake, and for the first time in eleven years was excited for what the day had to bring. Not even an hour later, after dressing and having a quick breakfast and packing together all the documents he needed, Remus was waiting in the Administrative Registration Department in the Ministry of Magic, waiting for his name to be called. He didn’t even care that he had to wait another hour for such a thing to happen; he was too excited about the prospect of finally, after eleven long years, adopting his goddaughter like he should have been allowed to years beforehand. He was excited at the prospect of not being alone anymore.

“The only issue I can see in your way is the, well, the lycanthropy.”

Millicent Bagnold, now head of the department, looked concerningly at Remus, whose face quite almost faltered. He’d forgotten about that, surprisingly enough, even though he had to experience once a month ever since the age of four.

“I’m sure, when Willow is not at Hogwarts, that she can be taken care of over the full moon by Minerva or – who’s she with now?” Remus asked, having quite suddenly forgotten who exactly Willow was in the care of.

“The Malfoys,” Millicent reminded.

“Right, of course,” Remus said, staring nervously at a pen on the woman’s desk. “Right, well, there’s always the option of becoming an animagus, isn’t there? Registered, of course.”

“That would be practically impossible for an eleven-year-old to do such a thing,” Millicent stated. Remus quite silently agreed. After all, it took three years for James and Sirius and – “I’ve scheduled a meeting for December 22nd, and you can start visitations on October 17th.”


	4. Chapter 4

Platform Nine and Three Quarters was busier than Willow had ever seen, although, to be fair, she had only been there twice, so there was not much room for her to compare. There were an array of worried Muggle parents sending their children off for the first time, then there were the experienced Half-Blood or Pureblood parents quite happily sending their children off for what seemed to be the millionth time, and then there were the tearful parents, sending their children off to Hogwarts for the last time.

“Right. You two have everything you need then?” Narcissa asked Draco and Willow hurriedly as the family made their way over to the train as fast as they could. It was almost eleven, which meant it would leave fairly soon.

“Everything is ready to go!” Willow affirmed excitedly before being pulled into a hug by Narcissa. It seemed like any normal hug, although Willow noticed that she held on quite a bit longer than usual, although perhaps that was because she would not see her until Christmas. As the train whistle blew, Willow took the time to give Lucius a quick hug, something he allowed on the rare occasion, before she and Draco found themselves racing to be the first one onto the scarlet steam engine that was the Hogwarts Express, trunks in tow.

“Careful!” a blond boy warned hurriedly before Willow tripped on the step, trying to get onto the train. She would have fallen on her face, thanks to the pesky step, if it hadn’t been for the same boy catching her.

“Sorry,” Willow apologised, tidying up her hair and dusting off her shirt as the boy lifted her trunk onto the train.

“It’s okay,” the boy said, holding a hand out for her to shake. “I’m Neville, by the way.”

“Willow,” Willow introduced, shaking the boy’s hand with a smile before taking her trunk from him.

“Would you like to sit with my friends and I?” Neville asked as the train whistle blew, all the doors slamming at once.

“Okay.”

Willow sat with Neville and his friends, Seamus and Dean, for only the first hour of the ride. Neville had just started talking to her about his pet toad when he was interrupted by what sounded like explosions, followed by screams. Willow, being quite curious, decided to leave the compartment and investigate.

What she found, two train carriages later, was a pair of red-haired twin boys that looked to be a few years older than Willow, along with a large group of terrified first-years, who screamed once more as the twin boys set off a firework; that would explain the explosions.

“Oh, hello,” one of the boys greeted, having noticed Willow’s presence. It wasn’t that difficult, after all; she was the only one _not_ terrified of what the twins were doing.

“Hello,” Willow said. “Can I help you?” she asked. She had always had an interest in scaring young children. She remembered, when she was seven, how she set a tree on fire while Draco was still in the middle of climbing it. He had almost broken his wrist jumping out of it. She was grounded for a week after that.

“Course you can, the more the merrier!” the other boy said enthusiastically. Willow smiled, walking over to the boys before taking a handful of the tiny yet mighty fireworks. The three spent hours setting of the fireworks, and even moved to different areas of the train. Willow had never had so much fun in her life, until the trolley lady came and told the three of them off. Sighing with defeat, the three found their way into an empty compartment.

“So, who are you two, anyway?” Willow asked, sitting across from the twin boys.

“Fred and George Weasley,” one of them said, pointing at who was who. Willow was quite surprised. She would have never thought that Weasleys of all people could be as fun or as nice as the two that sat in front of them. Maybe Draco was right then, and maybe Lucius was wrong.

“Well, I’m Willow-Violet Potter,” Willow introduced, holding her hands out for the twin boys to shake, except, they did not. Instead, they both stared at her, a surprised look on their faces. It took Willow a few moments to understand why they looked at her in such a way, but then, she remembered, they probably knew her brother. She almost forgot she had one, considering, even a month after discovering the truth of her past, and the endless questions to Lucius, she still had no answers. There was only one instance where his existence was acknowledged, and that was when Draco said he knew Harry, one week before, but he wouldn’t elaborate further.

“Do you know my brother?” Willow asked, taking her hands back and letting them rest on her lap.

“Who doesn’t?” Fred said. “He defeated You-Know-Who as a baby!”

“We didn’t know he had a sister though,” George explained.

“I didn’t know he was my brother until a month ago,” Willow admitted sadly, looking to the ground, ashamed. “Well, anyway,” she said, looking back up at the twin boys, “do you know where he is? I was hoping I could meet him today.”

“Not sure,” the twins replied in unison.

“Haven’t seen him all day,” George sighed. “Haven’t seen our younger brother either. But don’t worry,” George said, jumping over to the seats where Willow sat and putting a comforting arm around her shoulder, noticing her down demeanour, “I’m sure you’ll see him soon.”

***

The Great Hall was absolutely magical. Willow had never seen such a place in her life. Four long tables stood in the Hall where students from each house sat. Slytherin was on the left, then Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff, and on the right was Gryffindor. And at the end of the Hall stood the High Table, where all the professors were seated. Willow recognised only one, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, who was on a Chocolate Frog card she had received on the train, when she and the twins were pigging out on sweets she had bought from the trolley lady.

Willow was never usually nervous, but she couldn’t help but feel terrified when the Deputy Headmistress, Professor McGonagall, began to call out names for the sorting. Willow had always wished for the day she would be called to sit on the stool and try on the hat, but now she was almost dreading it. Perhaps it was the added pressure of knowing who her family were. The twins had explained on the train that all known Potters had been in Gryffindor, the bravest house of them all. For the first time, Willow actually feared what house she would get into. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were fairly acceptable, but if she was placed into Slytherin she knew people would _not_ approve of her. Anyone going into Slytherin was usually looked down upon, mostly because all bad wizards and witches came from Slytherin, but a Potter going into Slytherin? No one would ever trust her again.

“Potter, Willow-Violet!”

Willow looked over at the Gryffindor table in search of the twins, so far her only friends, for some sort of comfort against the many gasps and whispers that were beginning to erupt throughout the Hall. She spotted them quick enough, and both of them smiled at her encouragingly as she made her way up to the stool. She hadn’t even sat for two seconds when –

“SLYTHERIN!”

The whispers became louder as Willow’s face fell. Perhaps if she didn’t know who her real family was, she wouldn’t have been so disappointed about being sorted into Slytherin.

“You can stand up now, Potter,” Professor McGonagall whispered kindly. Willow hadn’t even noticed she was still sitting on the stool.

“Oh, right,” she mumbled quietly, forcing herself off the stool. She felt tears beginning to prickle her eyes as the endless echoes of murmurs and whispers washed over her as she walked the few steps towards the Slytherin table. Quickly, she found Draco and sat down beside him. He seemed to be the only person in the Hall not fazed by the hat’s decision. On the contrary, he was quite happy that she was in Slytherin.

“Don’t listen to them, Wills,” Draco said, trying his very best to comfort her, wiping away a falling tear from her face. “At least we’ll get to spend more time together, right?”

The rest of the night was a blur for Willow. She didn’t pay attention to anything Dumbledore said, she didn’t speak to anyone, even when Draco asked her a question, and she went to sleep that night feeling quite hungry, as she hadn’t felt like eating anything during the Start-of-Term Feast.

The following morning, Willow awoke earlier than anyone else, and decided to go for a walk down to the Great Hall, hoping this would clear her head. She took a seat at the Gryffindor table, knowing this would probably be the first and last time where she felt as if she belonged somewhere. She knew it would be almost impossible to make friends after the sorting. She also knew that the ones she made yesterday probably wouldn’t like her too much after this either.

She was only in the Great Hall for a mere five minutes before she saw Professor McGonagall and the Potions Master, Professor Severus Snape enter from one of the doors behind the High Table. Fortunately, they weren’t looking in Willow’s direction when they entered, which gave her time to slip under the table to hide; they were talking about something that sounded very important, and Willow couldn’t help but listen in.

“And the Ministry is accepting your offer to pay him weekly?” Professor Snape asked, sitting down at his seat at the table.

“Yes,” replied Professor McGonagall.

“And the date she will be adopted?”

“December 22nd. Later in the year than planned; he had hoped to be able to take her in over the summer, but the Ministry wouldn’t allow it.”

“Minerva, are you sure he’s in a viable position to care for her?”

Professor McGonagall hesitated slightly before sitting down at her seat and answering Professor Snape’s question, “When Remus is going through that time of the month, during holidays of course, Willow will stay in my care, unless other arrangements are made before then.”

Willow had to clasp her hands over her mouth to stop her from speaking or making a sound. She felt sad, knowing she would leave the Malfoys for good so soon, and then quite suddenly she felt very angry. Did the Malfoys know this would happen? She remembered back to the hug Narcissa had given her the day before, before Draco and Willow stepped onto the Hogwarts Express. She had noticed it was tighter than usual, and longer. Even the hug she gave Lucius felt different to the usual.

“What are you doing under the table?”

Willow looked up to see Fred and George Weasley, staring at her. Their arms were crossed, and they looked very confused. Willow hadn’t even noticed how much time had passed. It had to have been at least a half hour since she overheard the conversation now, as people were slowly starting to enter the Great Hall for breakfast.

The girl clambered out from under the table and wiped away a stray tear that had fallen from her eyes before heading to the large oak doors, the twin boys trailing behind her. She decided not to ask why they were following her, coming to the conclusion that they had decided, for some unknown reason, _not_ to abandon her, even after she had been sorted into Slytherin.

Before Willow knew where she was going, she found herself and the twin boys in one of the many Courtyards. She sat down on the ground in the middle of the Courtyard, her back rested against the fountain and before she knew it, the twins were sitting on either side of her and listening to her as she poured her heart and soul out to them; she talked about how she lived with the Malfoys, and how she discovered her true family, and what she had heard this morning. By the time she finished talking, she was sure that breakfast was almost over.

She was also sure, that all this talking would have made the twins leave her. In the past, whenever she tried to make friends, she would end up talking too much and they would end up either leaving her or telling her to go away. But instead, they showed her comfort, giving her suggestions on what to do, or how to handle her situation. And by the time the first bell rang, signalling the beginnings of class, they had even managed to put a smile on her face.


	5. Chapter 5

The sound of heavy books hitting the stone ground sounded throughout the room. It seemed that everything was going wrong for Willow that morning. It had been just under a week since she had arrived at Hogwarts, and during breakfast she had been given a new class timetable; apparently she had been moved up a year in a few subjects, owing to her fanatic readings of anything to do with magic prior to Hogwarts.

“I’m sorry,” Willow apologised to Professor McGonagall. “I got lost,” she said quietly, kneeling on the ground to collect her dropped books. Professor McGonagall did not respond, or perhaps Willow hadn’t heard her say anything, as she was becoming more and more anxious by the second. For a brief moment, Willow poked her head up to see who was in the class. She recognised Draco and the boys she met on the train, Neville, Seamus and Dean, but she couldn’t look around much more as someone was quickly approaching her.

“Let me help you,” he said, kneeling down by Willow and picking up some of her books. He had red hair and a lot of freckles and was fairly tall for his age. He also bared a strikingly similar appearance to Fred and George Weasley. “You can sit with me, if you want.”

“Thanks,” Willow thanked quietly, picking up the rest of her books. As she and the boy walked up to the front of the class, Willow took notice of a boy with black hair and glasses, who looked very similar to her father in a photo she had seen of his. He must have been her brother; who else could he have been? And the Weasley twins had said that her brother was friends with their younger brother, who Willow soon confirmed _was_ the red-haired boy that sat beside her. But if the bespectacled boy, who was now seated directly behind her, _was_ in fact her brother, why hadn’t he gotten up to help her?

The question soon dwindled from Willow’s mind as she was enthralled with the lesson. Today, Professor McGonagall was teaching the class how to turn beetles into buttons, and around halfway through the lesson, Professor McGonagall gave the class their own beetles. Willow managed to be the first person to successfully transfigure her beetle, followed closely by the brown-haired girl sitting beside who she thought was her brother. Willow had so much time to spare she was able to help out Ron, the Weasley sitting beside her, by letting him use her wand, as his had broken the week before. He had told her it was because of the Whomping Willow near the Gamekeeper Hagrid’s Hut. Nearing the end of the lesson, Willow began to pack up her books, and once she had finished she started to make her way to the door with the rest of the class, but she was stopped by Professor McGonagall, who requested to see her.

“Am I in trouble for something?” Willow asked as the bell rang out, signalling the end of class.

“Have you done anything wrong, Miss Potter?” Professor McGonagall questioned as she and Willow walked back to her desk.

“I don’t think I have,” Willow said, thinking hard, but she could not remember any rules being broken by her in her last week. Professor McGonagall sighed quietly, and the faintest hint of a smile creeped onto her face before she continued to speak.

“How much do you know about your family?” she questioned.

“Is this about my godfather adopting me?” Willow asked before clasping her hands over her mouth, suddenly realising what she had said. She hadn’t meant to let Professor McGonagall know that she had been eavesdropping.

“You know, it’s not very polite to eavesdrop on conversations,” Professor McGonagall said, disappointed.

“I know,” Willow mumbled through her hands before letting them fall to her sides again. “I’m really sorry. I promise I won’t do it again.”

Professor McGonagall eyed Willow suspiciously for a few seconds before sighing and continuing on.

“Yes, this is about that situation,” she explained. “Starting from October 17th you and your godfather will meet for a few hours during the day, to be properly acquainted before he adopts you in December.”

***

Willow left class a few minutes later with a nervous half-smile on her face. She had to admit, she was getting a little excited to meet him, but she was mostly nervous. What would she even say to him when they met? Willow did not know, although, she had a whole month and a bit to figure it out. Willow sighed and crossed her arms over her chest as she walked through the hallways. Trespassing from one place to another had definitely become much harder in the last week. Every day it seemed more and more people had heard of the Slytherin Potter, and each day more and more people were taking up the task of making fun of her.

Halfway to the Great Hall though, she tripped over someone’s foot, to which said person laughed heartily as Willow fell to the ground, books falling to the floor once more. She felt herself wanting to cry as people began to crowd around her, laughing and pointing as if she were a monkey in a zoo, until one brave person decided to help her.

She thought, at first, that it was Ron again, but then remembered that he had left much earlier than she had, with the people sitting behind them in Transfiguration, who _did_ turn out to be Harry and his and Ron’s best friend Hermione. Perhaps it was also the Hufflepuff scarf that told her it was definitely _not_ Ron.

“Clear off, the lot of you!” he shouted at the surrounding crowd as he gathered Willow’s books together in a neat pile. He must have been quite popular, as most of the crowd seemed to disperse in a matter of seconds. Willow finally got the courage to look up at the boy once the hall was relatively quiet again. He was around the same age as the Weasley twins, with dark brown hair and kind grey eyes. “Sorry about them,” he apologised, as if it had all been his fault.

“It isn’t your fault people don’t like me,” Willow assured quickly, taking her books from the boy and standing up once more.

“You’re Potter’s sister, Willow, are you not?” the boy asked curiously.

“Yes,” Willow said. “What’s your name?”

“Cedric,” the boy smiled, holding out a hand for Willow to shake. “Cedric Diggory,” he said proudly as Willow shook his hand. “Do you like Quidditch?”

That was a silly question, Willow thought to herself. Did she like Quidditch? Of course not. In fact, she absolutely loved it.

“Well, I’ve been to every Quidditch World Cup since I was five so –“

“Good. Meet me down at the Quidditch Pitch, after school, four o’clock.”

***

Willow did as Cedric said. Straight after classes finished for the day, Willow put her things back in her dormitory and rushed down to the Quidditch Pitch. There, she saw not only Cedric, but the whole Hufflepuff Quidditch Team.

“I thought watching the practice would make you feel a bit better,” Cedric said. “Maybe you can give us a few pointers even?”

Willow thanked Cedric before making her way up one of the Quidditch Stands to observe the team better. They were fairly good, for a school team, although Willow did see that some of the members could improve on their sharp turns, and Cedric could improve on his diving before the next game. The practice lasted an hour, and Cedric happily listened to the pointers Willow had come up with.

“You know, I think you’d make a pretty good Seeker,” Cedric complimented as the two made their way inside the castle, after Willow’s half-hour long list.

“Really?” Willow questioned. She had never really thought about joining a Quidditch team before, not that she could at the moment anyway; she was only a first-year. Cedric nodded strongly in agreement as the two walked through the Entrance Hall. Willow hummed and smiled. The more she thought about it, she could see that Cedric could be right. She was fairly tall for her age, and relatively slim. She had also learnt that day, during the practice, that the Snitch actually followed a set of patterns, too. The only problem was, she couldn’t fly a broom, although, upon reaching the Great Hall, Cedric explained that wouldn’t be a problem, as Willow should have flying classes fairly soon.

For the first time in a week, Willow felt fairly confident sitting down for dinner that night. She had had the best day of her school year so far; she even made two new friends. She’d never had this many friends before. Her lost appetite even came back, and for the first time that week, Willow fully appreciated the food on her plate. She was so happy and confident, in fact, that she had second helpings of everything, much to Draco’s great surprise. Although, he too was happy, that she was finally happy.


	6. Chapter 6

After Willow’s first successful week at school, the rest of the days flew by with ease. She finally properly met her brother at the start of October, when the Weasley twins invited her into the Gryffindor Common Room, although Harry didn’t seem to like Willow too much, even though they had never met before. Perhaps it was because she was in Slytherin; she did not know.

“Don’t worry, he’ll warm up to you soon enough,” Fred said, sitting beside a sulking Willow, and George at one of the round tables in the Common Room, a salamander in his hand. “Now,” he smirked, “let us have a look and see what’ll happen if we feed this little guy a firework, shall we?”

“A firework?” Hermione Granger, Ron and Harry’s friend, piped up from the sofas in front of the fireplace. Her voice reminded Willow of Narcissa when she scolded Lucius that afternoon in Diagon Alley.

“Yes, Granger. You know, those things that explode and fill the place with pretty colours,” Fred said as he slipped a firework into the amphibian’s mouth. Hermione scoffed as Willow and the twins began observing the creature. Soon enough, the area around the table had filled with curious onlookers, also intrigued as to what would happen to the now smouldering salamander. Quite suddenly, the salamander flew into the air, and brilliant tangerine stars exploded from its mouth as it hovered in the air. Willow, Fred and George were on the ground practically howling with laughter at the sight, even when the twins’ older brother Percy came downstairs to scold them.

Only seconds after the salamander fell to the floor and scurried over to the fireplace the portrait of the Fat Lady opened, and Professor McGonagall entered in search of Willow.

“A word with you, Potter.”

Willow stood up off the ground and quite suddenly felt a rush of fear flow through her. Was she in trouble? Typically speaking, members of other houses weren’t allowed inside Common Rooms that weren’t theirs.

“We’ll be leaving from the Entrance Hall at ten tomorrow morning,” Professor McGonagall explained in a hushed voice in the corner of the room. Willow looked at her confused. Where were they going? What were they going to do? And that’s when Willow remembered what day it was. Tomorrow was October 17th. She was to meet her godfather for the first time in eleven years.

Professor McGonagall left not long after telling Willow this information and suggesting that she get back to her own Common Room soon, otherwise she may receive a detention from the Caretaker, Argus Filch. A half hour after Professor McGonagall left, Willow made her way back to the Slytherin Common Room, and back to her dormitory, sufficiently terrified of what the next day would bring.

The following morning, Willow awoke quite possibly more exhausted than what she had been before she fell asleep the night before. The whole night, her mind had been filling with questions. From the little she had heard about Remus, it seemed that he was a nice person, but Willow wouldn’t know for sure until they met. And, of course, she only had two months to get to know him until she was to move in with him. She hoped that would be enough time.

Willow did not eat much for breakfast and made her way to the Entrance Hall at five to ten, after confirming with the twins that she would be there that afternoon to watch the Gryffindor Quidditch practice. There, she met with Professor McGonagall before the two began to make their way down to the village of Hogsmeade.

Once they made their way to the cobblestone streets of the village, Willow decided that distracting herself might help with her increasing nerves, so she took it upon herself to look at all the little shops lining the street and trying to remember the last time she had been in them.

One shop in particular, Zonko’s Joke Shop, gave rise to a memory of Willow’s third birthday. Narcissa had taken her and Draco to Hogsmeade for their birthday, and Willow had a great interest in seeing what was inside said store. She met two red-haired twin boys in there who had taken it upon themselves to recommend what type of Fanged Frisbee she should get. Willow smiled as she and Professor McGonagall found themselves out the front of the local pub, the Three Broomsticks, having realised that those twin boys were the same ones she had been with the night before, when one decided to feed a salamander a firework.

“Morning, Minerva,” a blonde, middle-aged witch greeted. Willow remembered her name was Madam Rosmerta, the owner and barmaid of the establishment. “Table at the back’s reserved just for you,” she explained with a smile, leading Willow and Professor McGonagall to the back of the pub. Once again, Willow’s nerves made a return as she sat down at the table across from Professor McGonagall, and as the minutes passed they only increased more and more.

Fifteen minutes into the anxious wait, Willow began to play with her own hands, hoping it would make her feel better, but she stopped quite suddenly when a slightly dishevelled man walked into the pub. He looked fairly nervous as he ran a hand through his mousy brown hair. Willow could see him talking to Madam Rosmerta quite hurriedly, before, soon enough, he began making his way over to Willow and Professor McGonagall’s table, his green eyes flickering nervously. This was Remus. This was her godfather.

“Good morning, Professor,” he greeted once he made his way over, before turning his attention to Willow, who was completely tensed up with fear. “My god, you look just like your mother,” he said, a small smile on his face. Professor McGonagall stood from her seat as she told Willow what time she would be back to take her back to Hogwarts, before bidding farewell to Remus, who sat down awkwardly in the seat across from Willow.

“What were my parents like?” Willow asked quietly only seconds later. She had been dying to know more about them ever since she made her discovery in the attic, although she had never had anyone that could answer her question in the way she was looking for. Remus didn’t say anything, and for a moment, Willow thought he wasn’t going to answer, but then he began to speak. In the beginning, he spoke fairly quietly, and a bit slowly, and Willow knew it was because he was probably as nervous as she was, but soon enough he couldn’t stop speaking.

He finally stopped talking about James and Lily Potter an hour later, when Madam Rosmerta came over with two butterbeers, one for each of them. The next two hours, until Professor McGonagall came to take Willow back to Hogwarts, were filled with conversation, which surprised Willow, as she had started the day out thinking the worst. Willow made her way back up to Hogwarts with Professor McGonagall quite satisfied with how the morning had gone, and quite excited for the following Saturday, when she and Remus would meet again. She had found that he was fairly easy to talk to, and that the two had quite a few things in common.

“So you’re not nervous about staying with him anymore?” Fred asked that afternoon as he and Willow, along with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team made their way down to the Quidditch Pitch.

“Well, I still am a bit, but it’s definitely less than before,” Willow replied with a smile before wishing the team a good practice and making her way up one of the Quidditch Stands.

“How would you rate my performance so far, Miss Potter?” Fred asked from the air a half hour later, smiling brightly as he waited for George to beat a Bludger at him.

“Solid eight out of ten,” Willow replied honestly. There were a few minor things he could work on later, like his aim with the Bludgers, and the speed at which he approached them, but aside from those small things, Willow couldn’t make any criticisms to his performance. For a brief moment, Fred locked eyes with Willow and grinned at her mischievously before racing towards the oncoming Bludger that had just been hit by George. It looked as if he was going to make a perfect hit, as he continued to speed towards the ball, but, instead, he ended up completely missing it, causing him to lose his balance and fall off his broom towards the ground.

Willow rolled her eyes and sighed before running down from the Stands and sprinting towards the injured boy on the Pitch. Upon further inspection, Willow could see that he had sprained an ankle, and was trying his best not to cry.

“Come on,” Willow said, holding out a hand for her friend to take. “I’ll take you up to the Hospital Wing.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Nice loud howl, Harry - exactly - and then, if you’ll believe it, I pounced – like this –“

But Willow did not believe it. She turned to Ron and made a gagging expression as ‘Professor’ Gilderoy Lockhart continued his re-enactment, causing Ron to laugh.

“I then screwed up my remaining strength and performed the immensely complex Homorphus Charm,” Lockhart explained exuberantly. “He let out a piteous moan - go on, Harry - higher than that - good - the fur vanished - the fangs shrank - and he turned back into a man. Yes, Potter?” he said, noticing Willow’s hand in the air.

“I don’t mean to be rude, Professor, but the Homorphus Charm only transforms a werewolf temporarily,” Willow corrected. Lockhart went red, having been called out on his bluff.

“And, how would you know this?” he asked hesitantly. Willow had to stop and think for a moment. She had seen Remus twice more since her first meeting with him, and in their last meeting, he had revealed why Willow was not able to be adopted sooner; he suffered lycanthropy. He was a werewolf.

“I – I knew a werewolf once,” she lied quickly. She had to prove her point somehow, but she would never do such a thing at the expense of Remus.

“A likely story, Potter,” Lockhart chuckled. “Perhaps you should write a book.”

The girls in the class giggled, notably Hermione, as Willow rested her head on the desk, seething with ever-so-slight rage. Lockhart went straight back to his re-enactments.

“Pathetic, isn’t he?” Ron said, copying Willow and resting his own head on his table.

“Oh no, of course not,” Willow sighed sarcastically, the two friends bursting into quiet laughter seconds later. Willow absolutely hated Defence Against the Dark Arts, but, she had to admit, having Ron there made it significantly less insufferable.

***

“He said the Homorphus Charm permanently transforms werewolves,” Willow said, hand on her temples, two days later as she and Remus stood by a place known as the Shrieking Shack. The locals believed the place was haunted, although, the howls and screams they had heard in previous years were only those of Remus in his Hogwarts years, during the time of the month when he transformed.

“And what did you tell him?” Remus asked, looking down at the girl.

“I told him he was wrong, and he practically said I was childish,” Willow huffed, crossing her arms. “Do you – do you know what the Chamber of Secrets is?” she asked, moments later. A week beforehand, after dinner, Harry, Hermione and Ron were found in one of the hallways, standing in front of a wall. Filch’s cat Mrs Norris stood, or rather laid, petrified, and there was writing on the wall that looked suspiciously like blood, detailing that the Chamber had been opened.

Of course, Willow did not entirely find this strange. She was already well-versed in the adventures of Ron and the twins’ older brothers’ adventures during their Hogwarts days; searching for and destroying the legendary Cursed Vaults.

“Well,” Remus began, a little hesitance in his voice, “I have heard of it. It’s all legend though, really, that I know of. You’re not planning on doing anything dangerous, are you?”

Willow shook her head. She wasn’t planning on it, of course not, but she couldn’t entirely promise that she wouldn’t find herself in any danger. It was Hogwarts, after all.

***

“Nervous?” Willow asked the twins, later that afternoon as the three walked down to the Changing Rooms by the Quidditch Pitch together. The first Quidditch match of the season was being played today; Gryffindor vs Slytherin. After watching Gryffindor’s practices for the last two months, Willow was quite excited to see how they would perform in a proper game.

“Not at all,” the twins replied in unison, as they made their way into the Gryffindor Changing Room. Technically speaking, Willow was not supposed to be there, as she wasn’t on the team, or any team for that matter, but a tiny insignificant rule such as that wouldn’t stop her.

“Are you sure I can’t join Slytherin’s team this year? I mean, you and Cedric both agree that I would be better than any other Seeker they’ve seen, and Harry got onto the team as a first-year,” Willow asked, sitting absentmindedly on one of the benches in the room.

“You’d have to ask Professor McGonagall,” a voice said as he and a few more people walked into the room. Willow jumped with joy on the inside. This was the first time Harry had properly spoken to her, without anyone having to prompt him to, like people had been for the last two months. It was the end of October when Harry finally spoke to Willow for the first time, although Ron had forced him to, having noticed how down Willow was whenever she caught a glimpse of Harry. In the last week it had been mostly Draco that made Harry talk to Willow, as the two had become very close with one another.

“What are you doing in here, Wills? Shouldn’t you be up on the stands?” Gryffindor’s team captain, Oliver Wood, asked politely.

“Moral support,” Fred answered. “Isn’t that right, Miss Potter?”

***

“How much did I miss?” Willow heaved as she reached the top of the Stands where Ron and Hermione were seated.

“Not much,” Ron said. “They’ve only just flown in.”

Willow breathed a sigh of relief as she sat down beside Ron. Only seconds later did the whistle blow, signalling the start of the game.

Not even a minute into the game, Harry was almost hit by a Bludger. George was quick to follow the large ball, speeding past Harry and pelting the Bludger towards one of the Slytherin Chasers, although, midway through its journey, it turned back suddenly and trailed behind Harry. Once again George sped towards it and, this time, pelted it towards Draco, but, once again, it was to no use.

“Why’s it following him like that?” Ron asked, worried for his best friend’s safety.

“Someone’s tampered with it,” Willow replied quickly. She began to wrack her brain for a spell that could possibly put an end to the Bludger’s trailing, but soon realised that it would be of no use. She was skilled in the use of wand and wordless magic; it was the first type of magic she had learned, after all, having been jealous of Narcissa and Lucius’ ability to do magic, when she was younger; but trying to do such a thing on a moving object, well, that was a recipe for disaster.

Soon enough it began to rain, and not a minute later did Gryffindor call for a time out. From where Willow sat in the Stands, she could see Harry getting a bit heated with the twins, and from there she saw the twins getting heated with Oliver Wood. Then, Madam Hooch came over to join them, and moments later the team was in the air again, rain falling heavier than before.

Up in the air, Harry was moving wildly, as if trying to divert the tampered Bludger somehow. It looked as if he was doing a silly little dance, and it probably would have continued, if the Bludger hadn’t smashed into Harry’s elbow. From the uproar of the crowd, moments later, Willow assumed Harry had somehow miraculously managed to catch the Snitch, although she had not seen such a thing happen as as soon as the Bludger had hit Harry, she, Ron and Hermione had raced down to the Quidditch Pitch.

“Look at what you’ve done to him!” Willow shouted at Lockhart, minutes later. In an awful attempt to boast about his alleged skills, Lockhart had cast a charm on Harry with the intention of mending his broken bones, although, instead, all the bones from his shoulder down to his fingers had been completely removed. “You’re a horrible professor –“

“Willow,” Professor McGonagall began warningly as she made her way over to the small crowd gathered around Harry.

“I don’t understand how you were even hired in the first place –“

“Willow!” Professor McGonagall snapped suddenly, whipping Willow out of her rage. “Detention,” she said to the young girl, a look of fury still present on Willow’s face. “For the next week, with Professor Lockhart.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Depiction of grooming and sexual abuse. Skip over chapter if you do not want to view this, or read the abridged chapter on my Tumblr @simplynotanegg_works (you'll find the chapter list as a link on my page).

Somehow, the following Tuesday, Willow managed to drag her feet upstairs to Lockhart’s office. She had skipped her detention the day before in silent protest, although that did not help, as Professor McGonagall took it upon herself to add Willow’s missed detention to her next detention, meaning that, instead of having to only spend one hour trapped in Lockhart’s office, it would be an excruciatingly long two hours.

“Ah, Miss Potter, you’ve made it,” Lockhart greeted with a smile, closing the door behind Willow as she entered.

“Don’t call me that,” Willow spoke fiercely, looking up defiantly at Lockhart. His blue eyes glinted with malicious intent, and a smirk dawned on his face. Willow suddenly tensed up, her heart starting to race. Initially, she absolutely dreaded her detention, now, instead, she was absolutely fearing it, especially when Lockhart quite forcefully grabbed her arm as she attempted to sit down on the chair in front of his desk.

“Do you know why you’re here?” he said in a strange voice. Willow could feel his breath on her neck, as he bent down slightly, turning her around so that the two were facing one another. Willow did not dare to speak. Even if she had wanted to, she would not have been able to. The amount of fear inside her was increasing with every second. “Do you know why you’re here!” he demanded, grabbing Willow’s other arm and aggressively shaking her, as if that would get an answer out of her.

“Let – go of – me,” Willow finally managed to say, struggling to get her arms free. In amidst her struggle, Lockhart smiled and let her go suddenly, causing her to fall backwards onto the floor.

“You’re a beautiful young lady, Miss Potter,” Lockhart said, towering over the girl on the floor.

“Don’t _call_ me that!” Willow shouted. She crawled back against the wall as Lockhart made his way towards her.

“Now, now, Miss Potter. You wouldn’t want another week of detentions, would you?” Lockhart questioned, grabbing hold of Willow’s hair and pulling her up from the ground. Willow could feel her eyes beginning to water as some of hair was ripped from her scalp, owing to the forceful nature of the action. Lockhart must have seen her eyes starting to water as, all of a sudden, he led her to the chair in front of the desk, hand rested on the small of her back; once she was seated, he began to run his hand through her hair. He continued this action for a few minutes before sitting on his own chair.

The next two hours felt more like ten, as Willow sat quiet and filled with nothing but fear. When she was finally released from the office, she hurried to her dormitory in tears, closing the curtains of her four-poster bed and hiding herself inside. No matter how many times the events that took place that afternoon ran through her mind, she could not, for the life of her, comprehend what exactly happened and why. A large part of her felt ashamed for allowing something like that to happen to her. And as a child, Narcissa had taught her that if anything like that happened, especially such behaviour from an adult, that she needed to tell someone, but Willow could not bring herself to do such a thing. What would other people think of her? What would Remus say if he were to find out? More importantly, what would Lockhart do if he found out that she had told someone?

Having suddenly thought of Remus, Willow, after upwards of an hour spent crying, finally crawled out from her hiding spot and made her way cautiously upstairs. She found herself soon in the Entrance Hall, looking out one of the large windows. Over the last weeks since Remus had told her that she was a werewolf, she had been researching if there was anything that could help him handle his monthly transformations. There was the Wolfsbane Potion; Willow had known that for a long time, but she was no longer living with the Malfoys, so money for the overly expensive ingredients was difficult to come by.

One thing, though, had caught Willow’s eye. She had heard about such wizards and witches before; animagi. Animagi were wizards or witches that could turn into an animal at will, and, according to one of Remus’ many stories of him, Willow’s father, her other godfather and their other friend, it seemed animagi were very good at keeping a werewolf tame, as the latter three had been animagi themselves and had helped Remus in his transformations quite well.

Of course, the process of becoming an animagus was extremely difficult; it took almost three years for Willow’s father, godfather and their friend, but Willow had also researched a few ways to make the process a bit easier and discreet, and her ability to do wand and wordless magic would come in handy.

Willow smiled one of her first smiles that day, as she looked out at the full moon beginning to rise into the evening sky. All her previous bad feelings had disappeared, for the moment, of course. She knew her experiences that afternoon would come back to haunt her at some point soon, which is why she ultimately decided to try her best to enjoy herself now.

“It was the detention, wasn’t it?”

Willow jumped and turned around to see Fred Weasley, closely followed by his brother George. Willow shifted uncomfortably and reached up to touch her hair lightly, having suddenly been plunged into the memory of what had happened between her and Lockhart.

“Willow? You alright?” George asked, noticing her odd behaviour.

“I’m fine,” Willow said quickly, an attempted smile on her face. “I’m fine. What was it you were talking about?”

“You missed practice,” Fred explained.

“Right, yes, well, it was – never mind,” Willow said quietly. “Well, anyway, I’ve got something to do after dinner. I need a mandrake leaf, and I’ll need help getting it.”

***

Willow felt herself become awfully light-headed as she made her way to Lockhart’s office for the final time that week. Her second detention, on the Wednesday, had been tamer, in that he hadn’t forcefully taken hold of her in any way, although in the last few detentions his constant touching of her hair, and what he called compliments most definitely increased in intensity.

“Back again, Miss Potter,” Lockhart smirked when she entered the office. After Tuesday, she didn’t bother trying to correct him in what he called her; there was no use. He knew that name was special to her, and reserved for a single person only, and she knew that if she tried to correct him one more time, she would end up spending much more time trapped in Lockhart’s office in the afternoons. “Such a shame that this is the last time you’ll be in here,” he said as Willow sat fearfully at the desk. “I would keep you longer, but you’re behaviour towards me this week has been fairly acceptable.”

Willow half-smiled as Lockhart sat down, thankful that she would no longer have to experience what she had been every afternoon, after this detention. Unfortunately, the light at the end of the tunnel that had found its way into Willow’s mind also decreased her usual intense fear of being in Lockhart’s office. Of course, she was still terrified, but much less alert than usual, which proved dangerous for her when, without warning, halfway through this detention, Lockhart rose from his seat, found his way to Willow and gripped hard onto one of her thighs.

Her immediate reaction was to try and squirm out of his grip, but this proved to be fruitless, as he only held on tighter. Willow closed her eyes, feeling tears beginning to form. She hoped this was all just some horrible nightmare. Suddenly, she felt a hand resting on her chin, and a thumb touching her lower lip. Her eyes snapped open to see Lockhart’s face only inches from hers and immediately Willow began to panic, her heart racing and her breathing unsteady.

“No,” Willow managed to say in amidst her terror, tears starting to spill from her eyes. She knew what exactly he wanted to do; she could see his eyes flickering from her own to her lips. “Don’t!” she screamed, again trying hard to get out of his grip, yet, once again, she failed as Lockhart moved the hand on her chin to her shoulder and pinned her back to the chair. Not even a second later, any other words she tried to speak were forcefully blocked by his lips on hers. She made no noise yet continued to try and squirm free from his grip as she felt his tongue suddenly trying to pry her mouth open. In a panic, Willow managed to push Lockhart by the shoulders, the action forcing his lips from hers, before kicking him strongly in a place Willow knew would cause him endless amounts of pain. In that instant, Willow heard Lockhart gasp as if he had had the wind knocked out of him, and his hands had fallen from whatever parts of her body they had been on. He tried to grab hold of her again as she practically leapt from the chair but couldn’t find the strength. Willow, thankfully, managed to escape.

Upon leaving the office, she ran tearfully to the second-floor bathroom, a place she knew she wouldn’t be disturbed, with the exception of the cries of the local ghost girl, Myrtle. She only barely made it before she keeled over on the wet floor, clutching her stomach and promptly vomiting out of panic and disgust, mostly at herself, of course. If she hadn’t called him out the previous week, or yelled at him on the Quidditch Pitch, she wouldn’t have been in this situation. It was all her fault.


	9. Chapter 9

The rest of that month, and the majority of December, was filled with anxiety for Willow. On one hand, she was deeply terrified of Lockhart, which made passing through hallways and attending meals and classes especially difficult for her, but she could not show that, because, on the other hand, she was deeply terrified of someone finding out about all that had happened, especially during that last detention. Perhaps the only silver lining in this situation, was that no more detentions were issued to her after she had injured him, although Willow figured he would probably have to explain what had happened if he wanted to give her another detention, to the other professors, and he, of course, did not want his office escapades to be revealed.

The Christmas holidays were fast approaching, and Willow had decided, as an anxiety reliever, to immerse herself in one of her many Muggle novels. Fortunately, that morning, Lockhart was nowhere to be seen in the Great Hall, so Willow was able to enjoy her breakfast without fearing the worst, although she did panic when someone came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. To her luck though, it was only George Weasley.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” George apologised hurriedly, sitting beside Willow at the Slytherin table. “Jane Austen, huh?” he said, observing the book that Willow was now closing, a hint of a smile on her face. “I think Mum read a book of hers once.”

“Yes, well, she’s my favourite writer,” Willow said, putting her book in the small bag she carried around with her. “Anyway, what do you want?”

“Well, me, Fred and Ginny were going to take the day off – snowball fight, you know? Perfect to do that after last night’s blizzard.”

“And, let me guess, you need one more person so that numbers are even?”

Willow sat in silence, contemplating.

“What’s it matter? You don’t have classes on a Friday anyway,” George stated. Willow gave a sigh. “Come on, Wills, please?”

The courtyard looked absolutely stunning; the fountain was frozen, icicles were glinting in the sunlight off the overhangs, and the last time Willow had seen this much snow was when she was eight. She ended up falling into a snow-covered bush, and Lucius had to drag her out.

“Right, Ginny, you’re with me, Fred and Willow, you’re –“

“Is betting appropriate for this game?” Willow asked, cutting George off mid-sentence. Soon enough the group of four were huddled together, counting out what they had on them, coming to the conclusion that they would be able to give two Sickles each to whichever team won, and seconds after agreeing on their betting numbers, they were off.

For the first time in days, Willow was actually smiling and laughing, and for the first time in little over a month, Willow felt completely free of fear, even in those moments when George or Ginny pelted her with a snowball unexpectedly from behind. And after two, excitement filled hours, Fred and Willow triumphed over the other two Weasleys, who laid on the snow-covered ground, desperately trying to cool down and catch their breaths.

“Alright,” George heaved as his twin and their best friend sat down beside him and Ginny. “Here’s your two Sickles, and here’s yours,” he said, handing two Sickles each to Fred and Willow. She quickly stashed the Sickles into her pocket before she found George’s head resting on her lap. He looked up at her pleadingly, and she rolled her eyes before tugging George’s woollen beanie off his head and gently running her fingers through his hair. Her face fell quite suddenly; she had always loved having her hair stroked in such a way, it was usually the only thing that calmed her down when she was upset, but the last time one of the twins had tried to play with her hair, a week prior, Willow flinched and almost began to cry. Now, once more, Lockhart was haunting her mind.

“You alright?” George asked quietly, so only Willow could hear. A tear suddenly slipped from her eye which she quickly had to wipe away. George said nothing more, understanding that, whatever Willow was feeling and whatever it was that had caused her to feel so awful over the last month was something she couldn’t talk about. In such moments as this, Willow was quite thankful for George’s presence. Unlike Fred, he wouldn’t try to pry into anything he wasn’t supposed to. On many occasions over the last month, George had to tell Fred off quite a few times for constantly questioning Willow. Of course, both of them knew he was only concerned, but he still didn’t know when to stop.

“I’ve got an idea,” George smirked, sitting up suddenly. Willow looked at him confused, and Fred and Ginny put a pause to whatever conversation they were having to focus their attention on George. “I think this game would do good as a schoolwide event, wouldn’t you?”

Three hours and many, _many_ snowmen later, along with the addition of an unruly charm, chaos was running rampant all over the castle. The group found it awfully amusing, witnessing what they had created. Once again, Willow managed to smile and from the corner of her eye saw George looking down at her, beaming. So that had been his plan then, to make Willow feel better, or at the very least distract her in some way. It had definitely worked though, Lockhart no longer in Willow’s mind and a small giggle even managing to escape her as she saw that Harry had been caught up in all the nonsense; one snowman showing particular interest in pelting snowballs directly at his face. Willow watched as he tried his very best to dodge the icy fiends, but when the group heard a sudden shriek down the hall, they knew for sure he had failed at last. At least, they had thought the shriek had come from Harry. It was then, as they looked down the hall, when their expressions suddenly switched from amusement to sheer terror. Professor McGonagall was coming their way.

***

It had been a very anxious weekend for Willow. After being caught with Ginny and the twins by Professor McGonagall on the Friday, the four of them had letters sent home to their parents; one to Mrs Weasley, and one to Remus. It was Monday morning, and students leaving for the holidays only had an hour left at Hogwarts before they were needed in the Entrance Hall. Two days prior, on the Saturday, the Weasleys had received a Howler, and ever since Willow had feared she would get one too, so she was taken by surprise when she was greeted by an ordinary, cream-coloured envelope at breakfast, a half hour before she was required in the Entrance Hall.

**Willow,**

**I was thinking, perhaps I should start calling you James from now on, considering your father was always pulling quite extravagant pranks in our Hogwarts days. I have to say, I’m quite impressed, but of course, don’t tell anyone that. That’s a secret between you and me. You probably would have expected me to be at least a little ashamed of your antics, but I can’t find it in me to feel that way about this. I’m sorry if this letter comes late, as I’ve been busy cleaning up your soon-to-be home, and I apologise for not being able to see you on Saturday. The Ministry wanted to do a last-minute inspection. I’ll meet you on the platform tomorrow evening, I might even get there early, just in case. In the meantime, definitely do not keep up what you’re doing and definitely do listen to what all the professors tell you.**

**Sincerely,**

**Remus**

A smile dawned on Willow’s face. This was good. She was not in trouble, much to her surprise, and he even went as far as condoning her behaviour, something Willow was sure she would be thankful for.

“I hope you have a good holiday, Potter.”

Willow tensed up as Lockhart’s unmistakeable voice muttered from behind her and repressed a nervous shiver as he ever-so-discreetly ran a hand along the back of her neck. She did not dare to turn around and face him but knew that he had a smirk on his face. Once he was gone, Willow lowered her head, making sure that her face was covered by her hair as she felt a tear escape one of her eyes.

Over on the other side of the Hall, at the Gryffindor table, George had looked up from his conversation with his siblings in time to see this interaction, and the unmistakable look of fear present on Willow’s face. A wave of anger rushed over him, especially after seeing the smirk on Lockhart’s face as he walked away from Willow, now cowering under the cover of her hair. Suddenly, he remembered Willow’s odd behaviour after her first detention with him the previous month, and it made him wonder, what had he done to her in that office? Whatever it had been, it mustn’t have been good, considering ever since that evening, Willow had been becoming more and more frightened as each day passed.

“You ready to go, Georgie?” Fred asked. He did not get a response. Instead, George kept his focus on Willow. “Georgie?”

“Yeah,” George said, quickly snapping out of his thoughts and averting his gaze to his twin. “Yeah. Let’s – let’s go.”

***

“It’s a bit rundown. Sorry about that,” Remus apologised nervously that night as he and Willow headed inside the small, four-bedroom cottage. It was close to midnight, the two were soaked from the storm outside and they had just come back from having dinner with the Weasleys at the Leaky Cauldron, after having left Kings Cross Station. “You’ll have to sleep on the sofa for the night,” he said as he closed and locked the front door. Willow could see there were already pillows and a multitude of blankets laid out for her. “I figured we could fix up your bedroom together, tomorrow after signing the papers.”

“I think it’s perfect,” Willow said politely as she began hurriedly sifting through her trunk as Remus began making cups of tea in the kitchen. In truth, Willow didn’t actually think the place was perfect. She couldn’t help but see the cracks in the walls and the dust-covered windows, although, she knew the place would grow on her, and she had known for a while that Remus lived a very different life compared to the Malfoys.

“Aha!” Willow exclaimed excitedly seconds later, pulling a small bottle of blood-red liquid from her trunk; the completed animagus potion that she had spent a very long and difficult month creating. Without a second thought, she held a hand to her heart and spoke, in her mind, the final incantation needed for the potion to work properly, before swigging the potion down. Halfway through, though, she was spotted by Remus.

“Willow, what are you doing?” he asked, before noticing exactly what potion she had just drunk. His eyes widened and he reached out to stop her, but he was too late. Willow had been replaced by a tiny wolf pup, who was ferociously wagging her tail and howling delightedly on the floor. After prancing around in a circle for a few seconds, Willow finally looked up at Remus, and quite suddenly, her tail ceased movement. He did _not_ look happy. That was the moment when Willow decided cowering behind the sofa was a good idea, transforming back into her human form as she did.

“I’m sorry,” Willow apologised quickly, seconds later, standing up to see Remus, his arms crossed, and an eyebrow raised. “Please don’t be upset with me,” she begged. “I thought that, maybe if I became an animagus it would help you when you transformed, like how you said that Dad and Sirius and Peter helped in that way.”

No matter how hard he tried, Remus could not be mad at the girl, and his attempt at a stern expression quickly faded into that of a tearful smile. Thanking her graciously for what she had done, he pulled her into a hug, trying not to cry as he did. She had sacrificed a month of her life to do this for him, and, goodness, she was only eleven! If James had been there to see Willow, god how proud he would be of her.

“I thought for sure you would be disappointed with me,” Willow sighed in relief and admittance as she wrapped her arms around Remus’ waist.

“I don’t believe I could ever be disappointed with you,” Remus assured quietly as a smile etched upon Willow’s face. “Just, promise me that you don’t get up to anything too life-threatening?”

“I promise.”


	10. Chapter 10

The Ministry of Magic was a fairly vague memory of Willow’s. She had been there only once, at the age of four, with Draco and Lucius. Narcissa had been fairly unwell that day, and she didn’t want the children contracting whatever illness she had, so Lucius had offered to take the two with him to work. The only thing Willow could properly remember about the place was that it was very large.

To Willow, upon entry, the place appeared to be fairly intimidating, with its black marble flooring and the large fireplaces that lined the walls, for those wizards and witches travelling by Floo. As Remus and Willow made their way to one of the elevators, Willow almost practically running to keep up with Remus, she couldn’t help but compare the Ministry to a colony of ants, all running around in their professional looking outfits with their one purpose being to serve the queen of the colony in some way, or, in this case, the Minister for Magic.

“Where are we going?” Willow asked, taking hold of one of Remus’ hands so that she wouldn’t get lost in the sea of Ministry workers that had just entered the same elevator as they had.

“Administrative Registration Department,” Remus replied, as the elevator began travelling down. “It’s in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement,” Remus informed with a smile, the elevator soon coming to a halt on their required floor.

“That’s a lot of doors,” Willow observed when she and Remus stepped out of the elevator.

“That might be a problem,” Remus said. He had only been once or twice before, and his memory of such expansive areas such as this was not very good. But then, in the distance, a young witch approached. Perhaps she would know where to go.

“Excuse me?” Remus asked when the witch was close enough. “Would you know which door leads to the Administrative Registration Department?”

“I think it’s the seventh door on the left, if I remember correctly,” the young witch said. “I haven’t actually been here all that long myself, in comparison to the others here anyway,” she admitted, her hair suddenly changing from pink to a deep shade of red. “Look, if it’s not the seventh one on the left, try the tenth. I’m really sorry I –“

“It’s alright,” Remus assured with a small chuckle. “You’ve already been more help to us than any of the others here. Thank you.”

Willow say the young witch’s cheeks turn a shade of pink, and her hair, once more, changed colour again, to an even darker red.

“Yes, well, you’re welcome,” the young witch smiled, her eyes looking to the ground before she wished the Remus and Willow luck and continued on her way.

“I think she likes you,” Willow said with a giggle as she and Remus walked down the hallway.

“Yes, I think she might,” Remus agreed, having seen the woman’s feelings quite clearly projected through her hair, as he pushed down on the handle of the seventh door. Behind the door was a large office space, filled with different desks for different wizards and witches working in that section. Not even seconds later did Remus see Millicent Bagnold making her way over to them. “Would you look at that? First try.”

***

“Take a seat, please,” the middle-aged woman ordered kindly after having ushered Remus and Willow into her office cubicle. Remus and Willow both sat nervously in the seats provided. The whole ordeal was quite boring for Willow. All the woman did for just over an hour was talk about all the important things like funds and living space and then, of course, she had to look over the documents. At some point throughout the meeting, Willow was required to sign her name on the Animagus Registry. She hadn’t wanted to do that, nor had Remus as he had admitted later on in the day, although if they had lied to the Ministry the consequences that Remus would have had to deal with would not have been favourable.

“Am I allowed to keep my last name?” Willow asked. It was now nearing lunch time, and all Willow and Remus had to do was sign their names on the official forms. “Not that I don’t like the name ‘Lupin’, I just want to keep something from Mum and Dad, that’s all.”

The woman nodded with a kind smile, and with that, Willow, quite excitedly, signed her section of the paper. Remus then signed his part of the paper and only minutes later were the two outside the Ministry of Magic once more. Only two hours ago they had entered as godfather and goddaughter, and now they had left as father and daughter.

Together the two then walked to Hyde Park, a place where Remus had been many a time, somewhere he actually quite enjoyed being. Willow, on the other hand, had never been there in her life, even though she had frequented London many times with the Malfoys. After having lunch together by the water, Willow found herself feeding the multitude of birds. The swans were a bit scary, as they were only two inches smaller than her, and much less tame compared to the ones the Malfoys owned, but she enjoyed feeding them, nonetheless.

Once lunch was over, the two arrived in a muggle furniture store, somewhere Willow had requested considering her preference for muggle items instead of the more magical stuff, something most people, especially the twins, found quite odd. Remus, on the other hand, found it quite fascinating.

The afternoon was spent filling Willow’s bedroom with everything she needed, her favourites, of course, being all the new books Remus had bought her.

That night, after the two ate dinner and readied for bed, Remus recounted a memory to Willow, about the time James and Sirius managed to climb to the top of the Whomping Willow unscathed one night during the Winter in their third-year. Remus had just turned the light off after saying goodnight and was just about to leave the room when Willow, very quietly, asked a question.

“Is it okay if I call you ‘Dad’ now? I mean, I’m not too sure about it yet, but I’d like to try it, if that’s okay.”

“Of course you can,” Remus answered with a smile. In a more perfect life, Willow would have probably already been doing that years ago, maybe even with Sirius too.

“Well, in that case, goodnight – Dad,” Willow smiled. She did like the name for him. Perhaps she would use it more, maybe even forever.

“Goodnight, Willow,” Remus said, closing the door behind him as he left the room. He could not, for the life of him, stop smiling after that. Even when he had finally drifted off to sleep later in the night. For the first time in eleven years, he was truly happy, and that was a very good feeling.

***

“Five more minutes,” Remus mumbled, covering his head in his blankets. It was Christmas, three days since Willow had been adopted by Remus. That morning Willow had awoken early to make breakfast. Every year on Christmas, she and Draco would make pancakes together for Lucius and Narcissa. This year though, Willow was not with the Malfoys, although that did not mean Willow could not continue this tradition with her new family member.

“You said that an hour ago,” Willow stated, her arms crossed before she huffed and tried to pull the blankets off Remus. He was too strong for her though, and she almost ended up falling on the floor. Once again, Remus drifted off to sleep as Willow thought about what to do next. Then, the thought hit her. Very silently she crawled onto the bed, transformed into her wolf form, took in a deep breath before howling obnoxiously loudly in Remus’ ear. It did not work though; he only made a noise of complaint before pulling his blankets up even more, if that was even possible. Willow practically fell off the bed, because of how small she had become, before trotting around to Remus’ side of the bed. His arm was hanging down and his hand was resting on the floor. Willow did not want the situation to come to this, but it was the only way now that would wake Remus completely. Carefully, she held his wrist tight in her mouth and dragged him onto the floor with ease. She very much liked being able to be a wolf now; she was a lot stronger in that form.

“That hurt,” Remus muttered, looking up at the face of his mischievous daughter, who had transformed into her human form once more and was now sitting on the floor beside him. “I was going to get up.”

“Of course you were. Now, come on, I made breakfast.”

***

“Mum! They’re here!” Ron called that evening after opening the front door of the Weasleys home, or the Burrow, as they affectionately named it. Chaotic was a very mild term for describing the Burrow. Percy and Ginny were helping Mrs Weasley in the kitchen, who was in amidst making dinner for that night, two older boys that Willow had never seen before, although could assume were the eldest Weasley siblings, Charlie and Bill, were helping Mr Weasley set the table. There was a girl with brown hair and girl with blonde hair, around the same age as the eldest siblings, who were making last minute adjustments to the Christmas tree in the corner, then there was the unmistakable sound of some sort of explosion coming from upstairs, which Willow could only assume was Fred and George.

As Molly ran upstairs to scold the twins and inform them that they had guests, Ron introduced Remus and Willow to the siblings helping Arthur, who were indeed Charlie and Bill. The other girls hanging around the Christmas tree were also introduced; Emma, the brown-haired girl was Charlie’s girlfriend, and it seemed that she and Remus had already met at some point, as the two soon entered a conversation with one another about one of Emma’s old school friends, Chiara. The other girl, the blonde one, was Bill’s girlfriend Ana. The two had met in Sweden and soon after decided courting. She didn’t seem to talk much though, which made Willow quite bored of her. Her boredom soon deceased though, as the Weasley twins made their way downstairs.

Dinner that night was loud, as everyone talked over everyone, but Willow quite enjoyed it, up until Mr Weasley asked the twins about how they were going in Quidditch.

“Willow’s been a great help. Watches all our practices and gives us tips, don’t you, Miss Potter?” Fred said.

“Don’t call me that,” Willow snapped instinctively before even thinking about what she had said. Fred looked dumbfounded; she always enjoyed being called that. George, on the other hand, was becoming increasingly suspicious, especially after Willow excused herself from the table and made her way upstairs. As Fred turned his attention to Arthur once more, George took the opportunity to follow Willow upstairs, who he ended up finding in his and Fred’s bedroom, curled up and crying on the floor by his bed.

“I’m sorry,” she apologised, trying to hurriedly wipe away the tears falling down her cheek as George closed the door after having entered the room.

“I saw,” George began hesitantly as he sat beside Willow, “I saw what happened, on Monday.”

Willow looked up at George, her gaze flickering every couple seconds before resting her head on his shoulder and looking to the ground in shame. There was no hiding it anymore, not from George, anyway. He had seen Lockhart’s behaviour towards Willow on the Monday morning, and she knew he had put two and two together by now.

“You can’t tell anyone,” Willow said with a sniff, trying to wipe away more tears, but it was no use as they just kept falling from her eyes. George cautiously took hold of one of Willow’s hands, hoping that it would calm her slightly and stop her from shaking, and he could feel bruises already forming as Willow latched on tight, but it didn’t matter to him. Willow was hurt and, as one of her best friends, he needed to be there for her.

“When I was in his office, the first time, he kept – he kept touching my hair and saying things to me and he kept calling me _that_ name, and when I was there the last time he –“ Willow stopped abruptly, remembering what had occurred, and her body trembled as each sob began to escape her.

“Willow, look at me,” George said calmly. The girl looked fearfully into the eyes of her best friend. “Take a breath, alright?”

Willow did as she was told and held onto George’s hand even tighter, if that was possible, before recounting what had happened that day.

“He kissed me, and he touched me here,” Willow took her other hand and placed it on her thigh, in the same spot Lockhart had grabbed her, “and I got scared and I kicked him, and I managed to get out but –“ Willow could not continue as she began to sob uncontrollably again. She had felt George tense up suddenly. Was he mad at her? “I’m sorry,” Willow managed to say in a whisper. “It’s all my –“

“Don’t you finish that sentence,” George demanded, letting go of Willow’s hand and instead wrapping his arm gently around her shoulder, making sure she was comfortable with what he was doing. Willow let an arm wrap around George’s waist as she huddled closer to him. “It’s not your fault, Willow, alright? And I’m not angry with you, if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s him I’m upset about.”

Willow nodded against his chest.

“He shouldn’t be doing those things, especially to you. And he’ll be bloody lucky if I don’t curse him next time I see him.”

Willow almost cracked a smile at George’s remark. Strangely, Willow felt a bit better after having told George all she had kept secret over the last month. Of course, she still had fears that someone else would find out, especially Lockhart himself, but at least she would have someone to help her now, if she ever made a mistake like she had at dinner.

“Why’d you get so upset before?” a familiar voice suddenly asked as the door of the bedroom opened. “When I called you –“

“Fred, just drop it,” George warned, feeling Willow’s breath start to hasten once more. “She’ll talk when she’s ready,” he explained, noticing the almost angered look on Fred’s face. “Just give her a bit of space, okay? She needs it.”

***

“Wills?” George asked quietly an hour later. Willow had come downstairs with George not long after Fred had come in to ask what had happened, and she, Remus, and the Weasley family were now all gathered in the living room by the Christmas tree, having all just opened and exchanged gifts with one another. “Could you check on Ginny for me?”

“She just said she was going to the bathroom –“

“Yeah, I know, but she seemed a bit – I don’t know.”

Willow sighed and stood from her spot on the sofa beside George and made her way upstairs. She climbed two flights of stairs before finding the bathroom, assisted by the unmistakeable sound of Ginny crying. There was a problem then, and Willow had to admit, she didn’t entirely know what to do. She wasn’t exactly a friend of Ginny’s; the only time they had properly interacted was that snowball fight only a week prior. Slowly, Willow knocked on the door and called Ginny’s name. Not hearing a response, she made her way into the room. On the floor was Ginny, her head buried in her hands, a black-covered diary in front of her. It was odd, Willow thought, and she wondered how Ginny managed to get her hands on that diary, because she could swear she had seen Lucius carrying one eerily similar back in Diagon Alley in August.


	11. Chapter 11

“Do you think it’ll work?” Ginny asked as she and Willow snuck inside the second-floor bathroom. They had been back at Hogwarts for three weeks, and the beginning of February was on the horizon. Since having checked in on Ginny back at the Weasleys on Christmas, the two had grown close and become friends. It turned out that Ginny had found the diary in one of her books after that day in Diagon Alley, and had discovered, once at Hogwarts, that it had the capability to possess her, which is how the Chamber of Secrets had been opened; Ginny had been possessed and made to do such a thing.

“Well, we don’t really have any other choice, do we?” Willow said, taking the diary from Ginny’s hands and opening one of the stall doors. She wasn’t wrong; they had tried absolutely everything to get rid of the diary, but it always found its way back to them. Truthfully, Willow thought trying to flush the diary down a toilet was a bit stupid, but what else were they to do?

“Did it work?” Ginny asked a minute later as Willow joined Ginny once more, the two making their way out of the bathroom.

“I’m not sure,” Willow said truthfully. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

***

“Fred, I need to talk to you,” Willow said nervously one morning at breakfast, two weeks later. He didn’t seem all too pleased to see her, not that he ever had since Christmas. It was all because of the conversation between George and Willow, and his exclusion from it; she knew he felt left out in some way, and she could understand why. If one of her friends wasn’t telling them why they didn’t feel good, she would probably have felt the same way. She would have told Fred sooner, about what was going on; he was one of her best friends, after all. But, Willow had not been ready; telling George was draining and painful enough, and she needed time to recover before telling someone else. Part of her still wasn’t ready to talk to Fred, mostly due to his more erratic personality compared to George’s, and because of Lockhart himself; he had been keeping an increasingly close eye on Willow the over past weeks since she had been back at Hogwarts.

“What about?” Fred questioned, looking behind him at Willow.

“Something important.”

The two made their way to the Great Lake, where Willow revealed all that she had been keeping secret, about what had happened and why almost every day was a waking nightmare for her, and why she had been living in fear for the past four months. Willow could see that Fred was angry, although, like George, he assured he was not angry with her, and that none of what had happened was her fault.

“You need to tell someone – McGonagall or –“

“No,” Willow said, shuddering at the thought of what could potentially happen if she were to tell anyone else.

“Remus?”

“I can’t. I mean, if I do he’ll go straight to Professor Dumbledore and then he’ll ask Lockhart and –“

“But that’s a good thing; he could get fired then.”

“You don’t understand,” Willow sighed before practically collapsing onto the grass. Fred sat down quietly beside her as she stared at the water of the lake. She blinked, feeling tears beginning to form. “They won’t believe me,” Willow spoke quietly. “They’ll believe him and if they don’t he’ll just alter their memories. He’s good at those – memory charms. And then he’ll pull me in for another week of detention and – I know he hasn’t done his worst yet and I don’t – I couldn’t live with it. I can barely function now as it is.”

The two friends sat in silence, Willow trying her best to cry as quietly as she could. She felt Fred came closer to her, although he did nothing more. She knew he had no idea what to do with her; she knew he was wanting to comfort her in some way but didn’t know what she would be comfortable with.

“Just ask,” Willow whispered, briefly looking over at Fred.

“Can I – can I hug you?”

Willow nodded her head and before she knew it, Fred had wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. The two did not move for close to an hour, as Willow’s tears slowly faded, and her heartbeat came to beat at an acceptable rate.

“Thank you,” Willow thanked soon after as the two made their way up to the castle. “For understanding.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, contains sexual abuse. Either skip the chapter or read the abridged version on my Tumblr @simplynotanegg_works (Chapter List can be found on my page)

“Potter.”

Willow began to tremble ever-so-slightly. It had been a month since Willow had had her talk with Fred, and practically everywhere she went in that last month she was flanked by the protection of the Weasley twins. Now, though, she had been forced to be alone. In the last Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Lockhart had handed out practice exams, which he would mark and talk over with each student in the class under the alias that he was trying to help them get as close-to-perfect as possible marks on the real exam. Oddly enough, the only students he had been calling into his office had all been girls, all of which had some weird crush on him. Hermione had just come from his office when Willow’s name was called, and she looked quite a bit more flustered than usual, but upon questioning her, Hermione only said that she had received full marks and would have no trouble passing this year.

“You did something to her, didn’t you?” Willow asked quite bravely as she sat down at the desk.

“She won’t know,” Lockhart said with a smirk as he sat down. “Shame,” he sighed, “you scored – no that can’t be write – zero.”

“What are you going to do?” Willow questioned, immediately regretting doing such a thing.

“Well, you see I _could_ give you another week’s worth of detention, but I think I’ll deal out punishments now. How does that sound?”

She was smaller and lighter than him, and she thought, perhaps she would be able to get away before he had a chance of grabbing hold of her, but upon reaching the door handle, she realised the door was locked, and in her panic she had forgotten what spell to use, giving Lockhart that extra second to grab a hold of her and pin her up against one of the walls. Before she could even fully comprehend what was happening, she felt him grab her wrist and force her hand to touch him in a place Willow did _not_ what to think about.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” he whispered in her ear as he forced her fingers to take hold of him. Willow shook her head, tears forming in her eyes before spitting in his face in an attempt to get him away from her. He let go of her for a split-second, and Willow hastily ducked under his arms and hurried to the other side of the room, wand now in her hand and pointed straight at him.

“You wouldn’t dare, Miss Potter,” Lockhart spoke, a hint of fury in his voice.

“Don’t call me that!” she shouted before a jet of red light shot from her wand and hit Lockhart square in the chest, making him fall to the floor. As soon as he was on the ground, Willow once more ran to the door, unlocked it with ease before slipping out, putting her wand away and running down the hall as fast as she could. The tears clouding her eyes, though, caused her to trip.

At the other end of the hall, the twins had seen Willow hurry from the office and watched as she fell. Immediately, the two sprinted down the hall to help her up and hopefully protect her from any more damage she could receive, but on arrival were met with a shout.

“Don’t touch me!” she said, getting up off the floor. Briefly, she looked at the pained expressions on the twins’ faces before running once more. Up the many flights of stairs she went and down the many hallways before finally stopping at the door to Professor Flitwick’s Office. She stood in front of the office for a few minutes, catching her breath, wiping away her tears and trying to calm down as best as she could before knocking on the door and being invited inside; she had a very important question to ask.

“How do people invent their own spells?” Willow asked as calmly as possible, hoping she wouldn’t make Professor Flitwick suspicious of anything. She also had to promise to him that she would not make her own spells before he answered her question.

“From an outside perspective it’s a very easy process,” he explained. “One must think of what they want the spell to do, think of a name and test it. But it is a lot more difficult than that, and, as with anything to do with magic, it can have dangerous effects to the caster or the test subject.”

As soon as Professor Flitwick had finished speaking, Willow thanked him and hurried back downstairs, all the way to her dormitory in the dungeons. She had been thinking, ever since her first encounters with Lockhart, about modifying her memory somehow, to make her forget it all, but she needed something stronger than a normal memory charm; something that no matter what would never be able to break, and instead of having to go through the painstaking task of choosing what exact memories to change or erase, the charm would erase all memories of Willow’s choosing at once. She did not want to think about Lockhart anymore; she had been plagued for almost half a year by his memory, and the memories of things he had done to her, today’s instance being the cherry on top of the cake. She didn’t want to be in pain anymore.


	13. Chapter 13

Willow was absolutely terrified; all she wanted to do was run, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to. For the last month, Willow had been spending most of her time in her dormitory, experimenting on the spell. She practically lost track of what day it was in there, and only left twice; once on the twins’ birthday, to congratulate them and help them with their April Fools prank, and once to help them with the Easter prank in the hours before they were to leave for the Easter holidays. That second time leaving her dormitory was what led her to where she was now; at home, with Remus, who had tried to wash her now brightly coloured hair in the sink, but barely got anywhere as Willow found herself in amidst a panic attack as soon as he had laid a finger on her hair. There was nothing she could do now, to hide what had been going on at school. She slipped, just like she had at Christmas, but this time it was worse. She had said to Fred that if Remus were to find out he would be straight to Professor Dumbledore’s Office, and then Lockhart would be called in, and then –

“Willow? What’s wrong?” Remus asked after she had practically jumped to the other side of the bathroom, tears cascading down her cheeks and her hands clasped together as she began to tremble. As an infant, Willow absolutely loved having her hair stroked or played with; it was the only thing that would put her to sleep sometimes. Now that she was older, it was more of a comfort to her, something that would calm her down in almost an instant, as Remus discovered after Willow had become fairly emotional about one particular story about her parents, so it was odd, that for once in her life, she not only shied away from someone touching her hair, but completely panicked.

“I can’t tell you,” Willow cried, shaking even more before falling to the floor. Remus immediately crouched down beside her. Why couldn’t she tell him?

“Why can’t you tell me?” Remus asked, quietly and calmly. He did not want to scare her any more than she already was.

“Because if I do – you’ll see Professor Dumbledore and – and – then – and then he’ll – not Professor Dumbledore – he’ll – he’ll hurt me again – and – and –“

“Who will?”

“Lockhart,” Willow said before she could even think about what she was saying. She immediately clasped her hands over her mouth and curled herself up into a ball, sobbing and heaving as her heart rate increased. She felt like she was going to faint.

Remus could not believe what he had heard. And he knew, by how she flinched when he touched her hair, and by the way that she was trembling and sobbing and practically wailing on the floor that this was no ordinary pain that she had experienced. Remus could feel a headache coming on, and blood had suddenly rushed to his face. He wasn’t just angry; he was absolutely livid. How could a teacher do that to a student and get away with it? And how dare he, of all people, do that to his daughter?

Carefully, Remus picked Willow up and took her upstairs into his bedroom and sat her down on the bed. He needed to know _exactly_ what he had done, and how and why and all the logistics of the situation. What Willow explained, minutes later was, for the most part, a babbling mess. Many times throughout her recount of events he had to remind her to take a breath, and he didn’t catch every word she said, but he still understood all the important details; McGonagall had given Willow detention with Lockhart, in the first he managed to manipulate her into associating a nickname of hers and the touching of her hair as a bad thing, in the last he managed to pin her to a chair and _kiss_ her before she fought back and escaped, and the last time Willow had seen him, a month prior –

“He made – he made me – he grabbed me and he – I couldn’t stop him – he – I had to –“

“Take a breath,” Remus spoke calmly, even though the fury in him was definitely past its boiling point. Willow took in a deep breath before –

“He made me touch him,” she sobbed, laying down on the bed and burying her head into the blankets. Remus had no need to ask exactly _where_ Lockhart had made Willow do that. Remus sighed, frustrated as he ran a hand through his hair. Never in his life had he wanted to commit murder as he did in this moment. He didn’t even care for the consequences; if it meant being locked up in Azkaban for the rest of his life, so be it. If he was lucky, he’d even get a cell beside Sirius. He quickly snapped back into reality when he felt a pair of arms wrap tightly around his waist, almost constricting him completely.

“Hair,” Willow managed to whisper, wrapping her arms even tighter around Remus, if that was even possible, and burying her head into his chest as she cried.

“Are you sure?” Remus asked quietly. He didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable, nor did he want to make her feel worse than how she already felt. He felt her nod against his chest and, with extreme caution, ran a finger slowly through the girl’s hair. Seeing that this had no effect on her, he let his hand, very carefully, run over her hair. Once again, she did not flinch, much to his relief, and, within a half hour, she had stopped crying, yet maintained the almost vice-like grip she had of Remus’ waist.

The remainder of the week-long break, Willow found herself spending a lot more time in Remus’ bedroom, always during the night, whenever she was plagued by a nightmarish memory. She felt increasingly better though, after getting everything off her chest to Remus. Of course, she was still wary and afraid of what would happen back at Hogwarts, but she knew Remus was willing to do anything to keep Willow safe, even an Azkaban sentence as he had half-joked about to her the day before she was supposed to return to Hogwarts.

On the first day of term, Willow did not board the Hogwarts Express like everyone else. Instead, she and Remus apparated to Hogsmeade before walking inside the castle and straight up to Professor Dumbledore’s Office. When they arrived, Professor McGonagall was in there, talking to Professor Dumbledore, only to be interrupted by Remus clearing his throat.

“Remus. Good to see you again,” Professor McGonagall said surprised yet happy, nonetheless. “What brings you here?”

“A word with Dumbledore,” Remus said. Willow could hear the slightest hint of aggression in his voice as he spoke.

“What word would you like to have with me?” Professor Dumbledore asked, rising from his office chair and walking closer to Remus.

“A word about one of your staff, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. He teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts, does he not?”

Willow spent her next hour recounting all that had happened in as calm of a manner as possible, all the while holding Remus’ hand and trying all she could not to fall in a spiral of panic. She also made sure to talk about her encounter with Hermione, and Lockhart’s very biased practice exam marking.

Professor McGonagall looked absolutely furious after hearing all Willow had to say, and when Professor Dumbledore called Lockhart to his office, she stood by Remus, who Willow was now cowering behind, as if to keep her safe from any danger. Not even five minutes after he had entered, Lockhart left with merely a warning, to which Professor McGonagall made her point very clear to Dumbledore that this was not the way to go about it, and that, even though Willow was young, her claims should be taken more seriously than that.

As this was going on, Remus stood by the door of the office, consoling Willow as she cried. She felt betrayed, in a sense, and she felt even more fear than she had ever experienced. What would Lockhart do to her now?

“If he ever gets too close to you Willow, curse him,” Remus spoke quietly to her, minutes later as the two left the office. “And if he ever tries to give you, or someone else tries to give you detention, they will be answering to me.”

Sure enough, the following day after class, Willow had no choice but to place a Body-Bind curse on Lockhart, and, later in the afternoon after another professor had helped Lockhart from the curse, she was issued with another detention, which caused her to send a very hasty letter to Remus, before seeking refuge in her dormitory.

Remus had just finished eating dinner when he heard the owl tapping on the kitchen window, and without even having to read the letter, he apparated to Hogsmeade and snuck quietly inside the castle, carefully and hastily making his way to Lockhart’s office, nothing but fury racing through his veins.

He made sure to close and lock the office door before storming over to the teacher and punching him square in the nose, a loud crunch sounding throughout the room as his nose snapped in two, after which he shoved him to the ground and kicked him in the stomach, before getting him onto his feet quite forcefully again and punching him once more in the face, then letting him drop to the floor in a heap.

“Don’t you ever lay a hand on my daughter again,” Remus growled, looking at the weak excuse of a man cowering on the floor, “because if you do, I will be more than glad to take up residence in Azkaban.”


	14. Chapter 14

Two days after Willow had sent Remus the letter, she turned up to class to see Lockhart, his face practically covered in bandages, and she couldn’t help but smile to herself. She would have to remember to thank Remus, especially that afternoon when she was told that her detention had been revoked. She left that class feeling a great weight lifted off her chest, and no longer did she feel afraid of the man; well, not as afraid as she had been, anyway, because, now, there was no chance he would lay even a finger on Willow. Of course, she knew she would still be plagued by her nightmarish memories in the middle of the night, but no longer would they have to be faced in her waking hours, and no longer did she have to fear them getting any worse.

Lockhart ended up becoming the talk of the school as people wondered how he had sustained such injuries. “A pesky Boggart,” he said one day in Defence Against the Dark Arts, a week later. Willow rolled her eyes as she laid her head down on the desk before turning her head to see Ron sniggering.

“What?” Willow asked in almost a whisper.

“I’d bet your dad really is his worst fear after that,” Ron replied. Willow smiled as the two made eye contact, before breaking into silent fits of laughter. Two days prior had Willow told Ron, feeling that it was appropriate to tell him now, and because she hadn’t any need to harbour any fears of what Lockhart could do to her anymore.

Willow spent the next weeks of her life recovering and getting back into doing those things she stopped herself from doing out of fear of running into Lockhart, like heading down to all the Quidditch practices with Cedric or the Gryffindor team, or studying in the Courtyard with Ron when they knew a particularly difficult lesson was to occur the following day. She and Harry also started to talk more, albeit, very poorly as they still didn’t entirely know how to interact with one another, and Harry was still somehow getting used to the fact that Willow was a fairly harmless human being. Ginny also managed to work her way into becoming another one of Willow’s best friends, rounding her total to four, after Ginny comforted her after a particularly horrible flashback. And, by the tail-end of May, Fred had even been allowed to call Willow by his special nickname for her, albeit rarely and only on Willow’s good days.

One night, with barely a week of May left, in the early hours of the morning, Willow snuck through the castle and up to the Gryffindor Common Room, somewhere she had spent much more time in as all but two of her friends were in there, along with it being a calming place for Willow in the middle of the night if she was being particularly troubled by nightmares.

She had arrived there, expecting to be alone, surrounded only by the warm flame of the dying fire and the ever-so-serene scent of wood. What she hadn’t expected was to see Percy Weasley sitting at one of the large round tables, his head buried in his arms, almost silent sobs emitting from him every now and then as his figure trembled, ever-so-slightly. It was an odd sight, to see Percy Weasley, of all people, crying. He was always so uptight and pompous; Willow almost didn’t believe he _had_ emotions.

“Percy?” she said, quietly and timidly. The sixth-year Weasley slowly looked up at Willow before letting his head fall again. His face was stained with tears and his eyes were red from an awful combination of exhaustion and despair, something Willow had become well used to feeling over her last months at Hogwarts.

“Percy, what’s wrong?” Willow whispered, walking over and sitting ever-so-carefully across from him at the table. Cautiously, in an attempt to get an answer from the Prefect, Willow placed a comforting hand on one of Percy’s, who, quite unexpectedly, took hold of.

“Penelope was petrified,” he finally whispered, causing him to breakdown into more silent sobs. Earlier that day, the last Quidditch game of the season had meant to take place. It was postponed indefinitely though, as two students had been petrified; Hermione and a girl from Ravenclaw named Penelope, who seemed to be Percy’s girlfriend, at least she assumed, as he was having such a strong reaction to the event. Willow had been struggling herself throughout the day, knowing that Ginny was in possession of the diary again, which may have also explained Ginny’s distant behaviour over the last week.

Immediately, Willow stood from her seat and walked the few steps over to Percy before proceeding to stand him up and wrap her arms around his waist. To onlookers, such an act would look fairly strange, and if the twins had been there, Percy and Willow would never hear the end of it. But Willow had learnt too well this year what it was like to be afraid and alone, and she couldn’t bear to see someone else have to suffer through that same pain.

“She’ll be okay,” Willow mumbled, squeezing Percy tighter in hopes that he would calm down, even if it was only a little bit. “Remember,” Willow whispered, looking up at Percy’s gloomy expression, “the mandrakes are almost ready and, when they are, Madam Pomfrey will make whatever special potion she has to for the students. Penelope will have some and she’ll be back to normal in no time, promise.”

“But,” Percy started with a deep breath, “what if she doesn’t wake up?”

“She will,” Willow assured. “Everyone will. Now, I think it’s about time for you to stop worrying so much and get some well-earned sleep.”


	15. Chapter 15

The following afternoon, Willow awoke on the sofa in the Gryffindor Common Room to the watchful eyes of the twins, Percy and Ron. She almost jumped seeing the four of them staring at her.

“Ginny’s gone missing,” Ron explained hurriedly. “We’ve been looking for her all –“

“Wait,” Willow interrupted. “What time is it?”

“Four in the afternoon,” George answered. “How late did you get to bed last night?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Willow said, sitting up. “When and where was the last time you saw her?”

There were different accounts from all boys, but one matching detail was that they had all seen her, the last time, the previous day.

“Is there anywhere you know she could have gone?” Ron asked, but Willow did not respond. Instead, she stood and hurried down to the second-floor bathroom, sprinting as fast as she could to assure no one was following her. Once she arrived, she called out for her best friend, and was given a response, but not from Ginny.

“She’s not here,” Myrtle stated as she drifted out of one of the stalls. “She’s in the Chamber of Secrets.”

Willow felt herself crumbling upon hearing those words. It was all because of that diary. Willow shut herself in one of the stalls and started to cry, her head in her hands. She knew what was in the Chamber; she knew how dangerous it was; Ginny had told her. If only she knew where the Chamber was, then, maybe, she could save her, if she wasn’t dead already.

Willow cried for a long time. How long exactly? She did not know, but she figured she should probably get herself up and keep searching for her best friend, like the other Weasleys, but just as she was about to leave the stall, she heard some very familiar voices; one of which, caused her to instinctively panic, until reminding herself that he hadn’t gone near her in over a month.

“Oh, it’s you,” Willow heard Myrtle say. She sounded very disappointed. “What do you want this time?”

“To ask you how you died,” Willow heard Harry say. This made Myrtle very excited, for some reason, and she started to talk endlessly about how she died and who killed her, which ended up piquing Willow’s interest, as Myrtle didn’t exactly know _who_ killed her; all she knew was that she had seen a pair of large, yellow eyes. As quietly as possible, Willow transformed into her wolf form; she would be able to sneak around much better like this.

“Where exactly did you see the eyes?” Harry asked as Willow crawled out from under the stall wall and ran quietly to hide by one of the sinks.

“Somewhere there,” Myrtle explained, pointing at the sink Willow was hiding close to. Willow watched as the next minutes passed by. First, Harry tried to turn on the tap before Myrtle said that it never worked, then he said something in a strange language and the sink sank out of sight, and after that, Harry and Ron were forcing a very afraid Lockhart down the hole in the bathroom. Willow smiled to herself. Was he that afraid when Remus had paid him a visit the previous month? She hoped so.

Before she knew it, the group of three had all jumped down the hole and just before it closed up, Willow managed to slip through too; she was going to help save Ginny even if it was the last thing she ever did. The trip down to the Chamber, or whatever was near the Chamber anyway, was very long and slime-filled. A little sickening too, with all the twists and turns of the pipe. Willow landed on the damp stone ground of the tunnel leading towards the Chamber a few moments later, feeling as though she was going to vomit, but she had no time for that. Lockhart, Harry and Ron were already a fair way ahead of her and she needed to catch up to them. Following their scent, she only had to run a little ways before she found them, marvelling at a giant snake skin; a Basilisk skin. She too marvelled at how such a dangerous creature could look so beautiful, but then she found herself hiding after accidentally letting out an enthusiastic howl as Lockhart collapsed to the ground.

“What was that?” Ron asked, looking confident yet Willow could tell he was absolutely terrified on the inside. She hadn’t meant to scare him so much.

“I don’t know,” Harry replied honestly, and in amidst of their confusion, Lockhart managed to get up and tackle Ron to the ground, trying to grab his wand, before going on a whole spiel about how he would erase the boys memories, leave Ginny to die, and tell everyone that he killed the Basilisk.

Without thought, Willow transformed back into her human form, ran in front of Harry and Ron, pulled out her wand and shouted an incantation directed at Lockhart.

“Memoria Occiditis!” she shouted as a jet of green light shot from her wand. The untested spell went off with a small bang, and the sheer force of it caused the ceiling above them to collapse, forming a barrier between Lockhart and Ron, and Harry and Willow.

“What even was that? And why did you follow us?” Harry hissed, looking down slightly at his younger sister.

“A spell I created. I wanted to use it on myself, but I didn’t. He’ll have no more memory of absolutely anything, and there’s no way to break the spell,” Willow explained. “And I followed you because my best friend is down here and I’m not going to let her die! Plus, you’ll need the help.”

Harry sighed. He couldn’t argue with her, as much as he really wanted to, so he just rolled his eyes and began walking onward, Willow trailing right behind, wands at the ready in case danger struck.

Upon arriving in the Chamber, Willow couldn’t help but stop for a moment and stare at the expansive, underground lair-like place in awe. It was built quite spectacularly, with its shined and polished obsidian flooring, and the carved stone snakes that donned the walls of the Chamber. By far though, the most spectacular detail was they massive stone-carved statue of Salazar Slytherin, the founder of Slytherin house and, presumably, the man who created the place Harry and Willow were in at the moment.

“Salazar really didn’t spare any details when creating this place, did he?” Willow sighed, still completely awestruck. She saw Harry nod his head, bewildered, in the corner of her eye.

Willow could have admired the beauty of the Chamber all day long, but it was when she was observing the details of the obsidian flooring that she saw something completely out of place. A body of a girl. The body of one of Willow’s best friends. The body of Ginevra Molly Weasley.

***

The sun was just starting to set over the horizon, and Remus was in the middle of washing up his dinnerplate when he heard a loud tapping on the kitchen window. Initially, he passed it off as the wind, or even a tree branch that was just a little too close to the house, but when he heard it a second time, much louder too, he had to investigate. 

Looking up from his plate to the window, he saw a very curious sight. An owl, with a letter held firmly in its beak. He thought it must’ve just been a letter from Willow that had come late. After all, the winds had been strong that day and there had been many reports of carrier owls going astray.

After opening the window and taking the letter, the owl hastily flew off, leaving Remus alone to review the contents. Quickly, he noticed that it hadn’t been from Willow, as it was not as neatly pressed as Willow made hers. It was almost crumpled in appearance, like it had been rushed away as soon as it was written. Of course, this only heightened Remus’ growing curiosity, almost causing him to rip the letter as he tore away the envelope.

**Remus,**

**Dumbledore has requested that you meet him in my office as soon as you receive this letter. Earlier tonight the Weasley twins reported Willow missing, along with their younger brother, sister and Mr Potter. It is feared that they may be trapped in the Chamber of Secrets. Efforts are underway to rescue the children and secure their safety. Dumbledore will provide you with more information when you arrive. Apparate to Hogsmeade and I will meet you at the bridge to the castle.**

**Minerva McGonagall.**

Remus stood in shock. Willow and Harry, along with two of the Weasley siblings, trapped in the Chamber of Secrets? How could this even have happened? He remembered Willow mentioning the Chamber of Secrets on one of their Hogsmeade visits back in November, but he and everyone he knew grew up thinking it had only been some myth created to scare the Muggleborn students. He had never suspected that the Chamber of Secrets could be real.

None of that mattered at the moment though. He had time to question later. For now, he needed to get to the school and hope that when he got there, Willow was safe and sound, waiting for him in McGonagall’s office. Hurriedly, he ran up to his bedroom to get dressed into his day clothes before apparating to Hogsmeade.

He met Minerva at the bridge to the castle, as she had promised, and together the two raced straight up to her office. Upon arrival, though, Remus found no Willow or Harry or the youngest Weasley siblings. Instead, he found Molly and Arthur, one of their older sons, Percy, and the twins Fred and George, who were both nervously pacing.

“Where are they?” Remus asked almost completely out of breath. Minerva had explained more of the situation to him as they were coming up to the office. Apparently, Ginny had been taken to the Chamber by some unknown force earlier that day, and soon after, one of the walls had text written on it in blood saying that her skeleton would lie in the Chamber forever. 

“They haven’t come back yet,” Dumbledore stated, a solemn expression on his face.

“Yes, well that’s fucking obvious, isn’t it?” Remus snapped suddenly, fearing the worst. “What are you doing to get them back?” he proceeded to demand.

“There’s nothing we can do at the moment. The entrance to the Chamber is in a location hidden to us, therefore it would be practically impossible to help.”

Remus, as most people knew him, was a very calm-natured being. He never yelled, or shouted, or even really raised his voice. He was always very understanding and kind. But the words that Dumbledore had said, plunged him into a deep pool of anger; quite similar to that of what he felt when Willow had told him about Lockhart. Once again, Remus felt as though he would be more than happy to live the rest of his days in a cell in Azkaban.

“So, what? You’re just going to let them die? You’re giving up so suddenly, just like that?” Remus shouted, beginning to pace aggressively, his hand running through his hair, before stopping in front of McGonagall’s desk, where Dumbledore was currently seated. “For fuck sake!” he yelled. “Dumbledore these are our children! _My_ children, Harry included! _Molly_ and _Arthur’s_ children! You’re the best wizard in the world, so people say, and yet you can’t even lift one fucking finger to help them; to save them! Fuck you.”

The room was encased in complete silence as Remus began to pace once more. No one had expected such an outburst from him of all people, except perhaps McGonagall, who was feeling almost as much fury as he. To be fair, he had a good reason behind such a thing. Both Molly and Fred almost went down the same path, even George who had never even hurt a fly considered it, although all decided to let their anger seethe inside them instead, not wanting to stir the pot up more than what it already was.

“Remus,” Dumbledore said calmly.

“Don’t,” Remus interrupted, face slowly being stained with his own tears as he sat down shakily in the empty seat beside Molly, burying his head into his hands. His body began to convulse as sobs began to escape him. Carefully, Molly wrapped an arm around Remus and pulled him close to her. As a parent, she understood his pain perfectly. His only child, or even arguably, his children, were missing and feared dead, and news such as that was enough to break any parent, no matter how strong they seemed on the outside.


	16. Chapter 16

Ginny was paler than ever, and her muscles had completely stiffened up. Shakily, Willow took one of Ginny’s hands in hers, almost retracting as soon as she had done so. She was ice cold to the touch, which was awfully strange in comparison to her usual warm body temperature. Willow couldn’t help but start crying. She knew Ginny wasn’t dead, she was still breathing, yet it was shallow and almost non-existent. Willow knew it was absolutely stupid, to openly beg Ginny to stay alive as tears dripped down from her eyes to the ground, but she couldn’t help it.

“Ginny, please,” she cried. “Don’t go. I need you,” she said as she wrapped her arms around Ginny and rested her head on her chest. She could hear a faint heartbeat, and that was the only sound she decided to focus on, even though there were other things going on around her. She didn’t know exactly what, of course; she was too focused on Ginny. The most she knew about what was happening was that Harry was talking to a strange boy, and that was the total grasp of her knowledge of the situation she was in.

What happened next happened quite suddenly. Neither Harry nor Willow really knew what was coming until they heard the figure speak something in that strange language Harry had spoken in earlier, then the sound of the Basilisk awakening, the sound of its large, heavy body crashing onto the floor as it slithered from the large statues mouth, as if it were Salazar Slytherin’s tongue.

Willow was now feeling a type of fear she had never felt before in her life, if that was even possible. For months, she had only feared one thing, or rather one person; Lockhart. Now, though, now she feared death, for the first time in her life. Since she was young she knew that if the time came, she would sacrifice herself for her friends and family, especially in these last months, but never had she thought she would be in a situation where that option might actually have to present itself.

“Willow, don’t look into its eyes!” Harry cried as he grabbed a hold of his younger sister, trying very hard to drag her away from Ginny. She couldn’t move. In that moment of panic her mind had chosen to freeze; quite possibly the worst thing it could have chosen to do. “Willow, look at me!” Harry snapped. Just like that, she looked at her brother, into his eyes, where she could see that tears were starting to form. Briefly, the siblings held each other in an embrace; the first time either of them had done more than just small-talk to one another. But this one seemingly small moment ignited confidence in the both of them. They were going to get through this, together. They were going to destroy the Basilisk, and they were going to save Ginny, and they were all going to be alive, and they were all going to be okay.

The Basilisk was a horrific creature. Willow had only seen it for a split second before shutting her eyes tight and blindly running with her brother across the Chamber, but it had been long enough to memorise its terrifying appearance. It was a large beast of a creature, a mix of bright green and mud brown with a dark cream underbelly, along with a giant mouth full of venomous fangs.

Eventually the Potter siblings found themselves in what looked like a small dungeon. They opened their eyes and looked at one another, deeply hoping that they were safe there. Unfortunately, the sound of the Basilisk crashing around soon caught up to them. Upon seeing the two children, the Basilisk reared its great head, giant venom-filled fangs exposed before coming straight down onto Harry.

At least, that’s what would have happened if Willow hadn’t stepped in the way. Immediately, she felt pain; the worst pain she had ever felt. It seared through her veins, burning so much that she didn’t even fully recognise the cry of the Phoenix and the screech of the Basilisk as its eyes were viciously stabbed by the bird’s beak. She barely recognised the crashing sounds of the Basilisk’s body as it now trailed after the bird.

Then there was the blood. She could feel it, seeping out of her and dripping quickly down her torso to the damp stone ground of the dungeon, staining her clothes a bright red.

“Willow, why’d you do that?” Harry asked tearfully, sitting by his sister, and gently placing her head on his lap, not knowing what else he could do.

“Because I’m your sister, Harry. That’s what sisters do,” Willow whispered, eyes flickering left and right, not being able to focus on anything. “You have to kill it, Harry. And save Ginny for me, please.”

“I will,” Harry promised, laying his sister’s head back on the ground again and standing, determined.

“I know we haven’t known each other long yet, but, I love you, Harry,” Willow cried out as Harry began walking off into the distance. He paused, turning to look back at his sister for a moment.

“I love you too, Willow,” he replied, wiping a tear from his cheek before going away for good. 

Willow was alone. Separated from her brother like she had been almost twelve years prior, although this time she would never see him again. She wouldn’t survive. She knew she wouldn’t. The moment the Basilisk’s fangs ripped through her body she knew that that was the end.

There was a part of Willow that wished she wasn’t alone. She so desperately wanted to cry out for her brother, so that he could make her passing from life to death easier, but she didn’t have the strength, nor did she want Harry to be put through even more pain. 

All Willow could do was cry. It wasn’t fear that she cried from now though. Now, she cried in pain, thinking about those who had grown close to her in that last year. She could see Remus being called into Professor Dumbledore’s office, shaking, and sobbing after finding out the news that the closest person to him, the only person he loved, his daughter had died. She could see Ron, her first best friend at Hogwarts, never wanting to come back to school ever again, even if it meant not seeing Harry. 

And then suddenly she thought of the twins and Ginny and her silent crying turned into a bloodcurdling mixture of heavy sobs and yelps of pain. She could see Fred never wanting to do any pranks ever again. She could see Ginny blaming herself for Willow’s death for the remainder of her life. She could see George hating the snow and anything that remotely reminded him of the best friend he lost.

Then, quite suddenly, she felt at peace. Miraculously, her tears ceased to exist. She could feel her muscles relax as her breathing slowed. She heard the faint screech of a Phoenix and then, she let out her final breath.

***

It had been an hour since Remus had arrived at Hogwarts. He had stopped sobbing now, but Molly continued to hold him as he still shook with fear and despair, every once in a while. 

Percy was now curled up in a ball in the corner of the office. He didn’t want anyone to see his tears. George sat closely beside him, his head rested on his older brother’s shoulder, dripping tears onto his clothes every few seconds. This had been the first time in months that the two had been this close without any teasing or arguing.

Out of the three brothers, it was Fred who had taken the situation the worst. He was sat on Arthur’s lap, his arms wrapped tightly around his father in a desperate hold, cries continuing to sound from his body. The last time he had done such a thing was when he was eight years old, after Arthur’s mother, his grandmother, had passed away.

But then, all of a sudden, the office doors burst open. Everyone looked up in anticipation, but Remus was quick to eye the ground once more. 

“Oh, thank god you two are alright!” Molly cried, releasing Remus, and running to her youngest children and holding them both tightly in an embrace.

“Where is she?” George asked, voice fading into nothing as an overwhelming sense of sadness came over him. What if Willow was gone forever?

“They’re still down there -”

“Someone help, please!”

It was Harry. He was out in the hall. Immediately, Remus ran out to see him and burst into tears upon seeing the sight in front of him. Willow was still alive, but barely, and covered head to toe in her own blood, which had left a trail down the corridor.

“Let me take her,” Remus ordered calmly, taking Willow from Harry’s arms and into his own. As soon as he had done this, he found the place where all the blood had steamed from; the two gaping holes in her torso. Gently but hastily, Remus rushed her down to the Hospital Wing, followed closely by the Weasley twins, Percy, Ginny, Harry, and Ron. Oh, how they hoped she would be okay.

***

She could hear voices, although, they were all muffled, as if they were speaking from behind a wall. And, there was another sound; the sound of someone breathing. _Her_ breathing. But that wasn’t possible. She was dead, wasn’t she?

“It’s alright, Willow, you’re safe.”

That voice. It brought her comfort. She knew she had heard it before, but who’s was it? Suddenly a name popped up in her mind. Remus. Now, he definitely wasn’t dead, and, as much as she couldn’t understand it, this must have meant that she was still alive. Slowly, her eyes flickered open and around her stood a few seemingly formless blobs.

“George! Wake up mate! She’s got her eyes open!” Fred shouted excitedly, shaking his twin awake. Almost immediately Willow was engulfed in a hug, and not just from George, but also Remus and Ginny and Fred and Ron.

“I thought you were a goner,” Ron admitted quietly as a few tears fell down his cheeks, a smile dawning on his face, happy that Willow was still alive.

“Don’t you ever do that again, Miss Potter,” Fred reprimanded before a smile of his own formed.

“I’m not planning on it, but I can’t make any promises,” Willow giggled hoarsely, looking over to the clock on the side table. Well, she would have seen the clock, if it hadn’t been hidden behind, no, it couldn’t be; presents?. “What day is it?” Willow asked, confused.

“You’re birthday,” Ron answered. “You sort of missed out on it though. It’s already almost nine at night.”

“Oh,” Willow said, looking a bit disappointed. Everyone had obviously celebrated in some way, while she hadn’t even had the audacity to show up, or rather, wake up, for her own birthday.

“It’s alright though. We can celebrate it once you’re feeling better.”


	17. Chapter 17

“WHICH ONE OF YOU DECIDED IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO ENCHANT THE WALLS OF THE SCHOOL THIS MORNING?!”

Willow and the twins roared with laughter upon hearing Professor McGonagall’s shrieking, as she entered the Entrance Hall, the walls flashing different colours as she walked past. Almost instantly the group of three emerged from the crowd of students, grins plastered on their freckled faces.

“We thought Hogwarts needed a bit of an upgrade for next year,” Fred smirked, looking over at George, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, the colour was getting a little dull and boring. Wouldn’t you agree, Willow?” George asked, he and Fred both looking down at her, smiling.

“For sure. I mean, sometimes old things need to be made anew again, don’t they?” Willow grinned mischievously, even though Professor McGonagall was currently fuming with rage, and just as Professor McGonagall was about to punish the three, Filch called for all the students to make their way to Hogsmeade Station.

“Sorry, Professor. Perhaps next year you might get us again,” Fred apologised with a sly smile before following his brother and best friend out of the castle. The three turned once more to take one last look at Professor McGonagall, who was now angrily trying to fix the walls in the Entrance Hall, before turning back around and following the crowd of students towards the carriages, arms linked with one another.

Willow surprised herself, that night, when the Hogwarts Express pulled back into Kings Cross Station for the final time that school year. If someone had told her a few months ago that she would miss Hogwarts, she would have laughed, but ever since the start of her most recent term, she had to admit, she would miss Hogwarts quite a bit, especially after what had happened in the tunnel before the Chamber of Secrets. The spell that she had created had worked quite well, if she did say so herself. The last she had heard of Lockhart, a few days after her birthday, was that he was in St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. He had absolutely baffled the nurses, as, upon arrival, he had lost the ability to do, well, anything! He couldn’t speak or eat or walk; it was as if he had just been born again, except, of course, he was an almost thirty-year-old man. And of course, not to mention, the nurses had no idea who did this to him or what spell might have caused such a thing to happen. More recently, she had seen reports in the _Daily Prophet_ that some of the staff had tried to torture the curse off him, yet after extensive hours, nothing happened. If anything, it had made him worse.

“Did you wanna come over during the holidays again?” Ron asked once everyone had made their way onto the platform. Willow quite happily obliged, much to the joy of the Weasley children, before walking through the wall with them, followed by Harry, Draco and Hermione. Willow said goodbye to all the Weasleys before running off with Draco to say hello to Narcissa and Lucius, after which she followed Harry over to their aunt and cousin, the former of which already in amidst a conversation with Remus.

“Willow,” Aunt Petunia spoke with a smile. The two hadn’t seen one another in a very long time, almost six years in fact, and the last time they had seen one another, Willow hadn’t known that her primary school friend, Dudley, was actually her cousin, and she had only thought that Petunia was simply just his mother. It did make much more sense though, as to why Petunia would sometimes call her Lily instead of Willow.

“Hello, Aunt Petunia,” Willow greeted with a smile. “Where’s the other one?”

The ‘other one’ Willow was referring to was, begrudgingly, her uncle, Vernon. All Willow could remember of him was that he was a very unpleasant man, very round too, with a big bushy moustache.

“He’s waiting in the car,” Aunt Petunia spoke nervously. “Which reminds me – Harry, we’ve got to go. It was nice seeing you again, Willow.”

Willow nodded, agreeing, before turning to face Harry. The two looked at each other a little awkwardly for a moment, not really knowing what to do, before Willow smiled and wrapped her arms around her brother tight. She felt Harry wrap his arms around her just as tight, before the two let go of one another. They promised to keep in touch, before bidding farewell to one another.

Willow sighed contentedly, finally able to focus her attention to Remus.

“Thank you,” Willow said, looking up at him.

“Whatever for?” Remus asked, a little confused.

“For a good year,” Willow smiled as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Remus hummed slightly before reciprocating the gesture. And after a minute or so of holding one another tight, thankful that they still had one another, the two began the journey home; together.


End file.
